DJI Government Edition

[msinger]

See more details in this news article:
DJI Creates High-Security Solution For Government Drone Programs

 

[GavieboyDji]

It's amazing how they've let a Chinese company DJI that is well known for sending data back to China.
So it seems it's one rule for one and another rule for other companies.

 

[Thomas B]

Interesting. An attempt to capture markets like U.S. military I suspect.
They don’t mention how they propose to keep it from “calling home” but still stay updated.

 

[Mr. Salty]

It's amazing how they've let a Chinese company DJI that is well known for sending data back to China.
So it seems it's one rule for one and another rule for other companies.

How "they've" let DJI what?

Just because DJI has introduced this model to the worldwide market doesn't mean the U.S. government or anyone else has to buy it.

And there are plenty of non-military applications where security isn't as big a concern where this might be useful. If FEMA wanted to survey storm damage or the USDA wanted to survey flooding, for example.

 

[Meta4]

It's amazing how they've let a Chinese company DJI that is well known for sending data back to China.

It's so well known because people on forums keep talking about it as if it was true.
But not everything you read on forums is actually true.

 

[PortCanaveralFlorida]

Government Edition Firmware from China?

 

[HawkDriver]

Interesting. An attempt to capture markets like U.S. military I suspect.
They don’t mention how they propose to keep it from “calling home” but still stay updated.

US Military likely wouldn't consider DJI. There are plenty of homegrown companies working to fill the needs of the military.

 

[Meta4]

US Military likely wouldn't consider DJI. There are plenty of homegrown companies working to fill the needs of the military.

At a comparable price to off the shelf DJI?

 

[Thomas B]

US Military likely wouldn't consider DJI. There are plenty of homegrown companies working to fill the needs of the military.

Educate me please, as to the U.S. companies supplying drones. Thanks.

 

[Meta4]

Educate me please, as to the U.S. companies supplying drones. Thanks.

Here are a couple of examples:

Made in America

White House says America needs to make its own drones Coming Soon

mavicpilots.com

 

[Mr. Salty]

Educate me please, as to the U.S. companies supplying drones. Thanks.

AeroVironment is one. Most of them are companies that most people have never heard of because they don't sell to the consumer market. Lockheed Martin and Boeing have their fingers in this as well. If they're making combat drones it's not difficult to image they can adapt the technology for non-combat applications.

 

[HawkDriver]

Educate me please, as to the U.S. companies supplying drones. Thanks.

Martin UAV and AAI are a few examples. I'm sure there are others out there.

US Army picks 2 drones to test as Shadow replacement

After a fly-off, the Army has selected two drones to proceed into a soldier evaluation phase as the service decides how it might replace its Shadow tactical UAS.

www.defensenews.com

 

[kadras]

Parrot Among Manufacturers Chosen by DoD for U.S Army Recon Drone Program

The U.S. Department of Defense is looking for “eye in the sky” technologies: personal reconnaissance drones that can give soldiers on the battlefield a situational advantage. In an effort

dronelife.com

From the linked article
In this process, the U.S. Army is partnering with the Pentagon’s internal startup accelerator to adapt small commercial drones for the battlefield....6 companies that have met the standards set in the solicitation issued in November 2018 to develop and prototype the next generation of small-unit surveillance drone.

The six chosen companies are based in the U.S, with the notable exception of French manufacturer Parrot. The remaining five are Skydio, Altavian, Teal Drones, Vantage Robotics, and Lumenier.

 

[GavieboyDji]

Just seen this as well

Chinese Drones Made in America: One Company’s Plan to Win Over Trump (Published 2019)

The world’s largest drone maker is the latest Chinese technology company scrambling to retain their ability to sell to the United States.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Thomas B]

Thanks folks.

 

[Huckleberry]

The US Army already grounded all DJI drones back in August 2017 do to security concerns. Many DOD agencies have been migrating to the Instanteye Robotics MK-3 for small UAV operations. I’m seeing several of these in the first responder field as well, though still not as many as the DJIs. Smaller local governments do not seem to be as concerned about the security risks of DJI as the federal government does, therefore they tend to purchase more DJI products due to ease of use and availability as well as cost, even though a loaded matrice 210 is easily $30k.

 

[Maviac]

How "they've" let DJI what?

Just because DJI has introduced this model to the worldwide market doesn't mean the U.S. government or anyone else has to buy it.

And there are plenty of non-military applications where security isn't as big a concern where this might be useful. If FEMA wanted to survey storm damage or the USDA wanted to survey flooding, for example.

I was about to make the same post. I didn't understand the original post.

That said, this seems like bad marketing on DJI's part. Yeah, we all know our drones send data back to China and frankly I don't really care if China knows I'm flying over my lake house or my kid's park or my country cabin. But they should have called it the "secure" or "private" model or something like that. Calling it the "Government Edition" seems to highlight the issue that I think they're trying to avoid.

 

[Huckleberry]

I was about to make the same post. I didn't understand the original post.

That said, this seems like bad marketing on DJI's part. Yeah, we all know our drones send data back to China and frankly I don't really care if China knows I'm flying over my lake house or my kid's park or my country cabin. But they should have called it the "secure" or "private" model or something like that. Calling it the "Government Edition" seems to highlight the issue that I think they're trying to avoid.

Calling it the Gov Edition could do two things though. It specifically addresses the perceived issue that the US Federal Government had with DJI products, which could put DJI back in the good graces of the US Fed Gov (probably One of the biggest purchasers in the market). It also adds the label of “Government” to it which instantly raises the price tag, assuming this is a program/service they will be marketing as an additional cost.

Just my opinion without looking in to it further but seems logical to me and makes perfect sense if in fact that was what they were trying to accomplish.

 

[nil]

How about freedom & privacy for consumers? What about the "Privacy Mode" aka "Local Data Mode" DJI launched nearly two years ago?

DJI Launches Privacy Mode For Drone Operators To Fly Without Internet Data Transfer - DJI

DJI Launches Privacy Mode For Drone Operators To Fly Without Internet Data Transfer

www.dji.com

 

[brett8883]

It's so well known because people on forums keep talking about it as if it was true.
But not everything you read on forums is actually true.

Seems DJI is confirming what we’ve been trying to tell you this whole time. That they do send info back to DJI servers. Guess we weren’t crazy after all or according to you what’s the point of making a special firmware that doesn’t phone home if the original one doesn’t?