Drone banning..Will it happen?

[BillyDrone61]

This would be a total bummer....

While there isn't a complete ban on drones in the US, there are ongoing discussions and potential legislation aimed at restricting certain types, particularly those manufactured by DJI. Specifically, a bill called the Countering CCP Drones Act, which would ban new DJI drones from being sold and used in the US, is being considered by Congress. This bill has already passed the House of Representatives and is awaiting Senate approval.

 

[mavic3usa]

Much discussion in multiple threads earlier across this forum, so many points of view. Perhaps you can dig into the history here to get feedback on where we are today. Unfortunately no one is able to predict where this will land but you can be sure of one thing, the government wants it so it's not going away anytime soon.

 

[BillyDrone61]

 

[Cafguy]

My opinion a BAN won't happen BUT IF you can still afford to buy one.
I think RID or not as a Recreational Drone pilot they are going to take away your privilege to fly a Drone over 250 grams unless you go to a FRIA. I think as a part 107 pilot you will face much more paperwork and roadblocks. I think 107 pilots will also face "permit fees" from every city in the future, Some towns around here seem to do pretty good with that one I am sure your State or town is next.

 

[Recoveryone]

Sad to say, but the drone ban has already been voted on (December 2024). in case you missed it, the military re-authorization act with in that bill under section 1709.

FY 2025 NDAA Conference Text: What Happened with the “Countering CCP Drones Act”​

December 8, 2024 by Miriam McNabb 2 Comments

The FY 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) conference text has been released. The text includes critical language aimed at addressing potential national security risks posed by Chinese-made drones. Section 1709 of the legislation, titled “Analysis of Certain Unmanned Aircraft and Systems Entities,” outlines a structured approach for evaluating the security implications of communications and video surveillance equipment or services provided by companies such as DJI and Autel Robotics. This language reflects a negotiated version of Congresswoman Elise Stefanik’s proposed Countering CCP Drones Act, which called for Chinese-manufactured drones to be banned from utilizing FCC bandwidth.

one of our alphabet agencies are suppose to reverse engineer these Chinese's drone to see if they are capable of sending signals/information back to China. There is no mandate on any agencies to do this, but it is the only way to stay off any ban if they pass inspection.

 

[mavic3usa]

My opinion a BAN won't happen BUT IF you can still afford to buy one.
I think RID or not as a Recreational Drone pilot they are going to take away your privilege to fly a Drone over 250 grams unless you go to a FRIA. I think as a part 107 pilot you will face much more paperwork and roadblocks. I think 107 pilots will also face "permit fees" from every city in the future, Some towns around here seem to do pretty good with that one I am sure your State or town is next.

wow, that's harsh

 

[microlinux]

I took some nadir pictures of chickens tonight that I think the CCP will be very interested in.

 

[Cafguy]

I think they had better get ready to explain why they can ban my Drone but my Iphone and computers Are "risk" Free? Oh that's right, there arent any American companies manufacturing phones here and trying to compete with China.

 

[KJC Imaging]

Elephant in the room, this whole thing is the result of crappy US drone manufacturers unable to compete with DJI and lobbying their congresswomen to help them by making DJI drones too hard to buy and use. It's corruption and BS to the utmost degree. Fortunately there are so many agencies using DJI that they can't ban them unless they just give away waivers to all those agencies, which then defeats the purpose of the ban because the agencies are the ones the US manufacturers want to sell to.

 

[Recoveryone]

I think they had better get ready to explain why they can ban my Drone but my Iphone and computers Are "risk" Free? Oh that's right, there arent any American companies manufacturing phones here and trying to compete with China.

This will only apply to new drones coming into the market

 

[Cafguy]

Thats true and if they were to ban they wouldnt touch what is already approved:
I don't think a Ban will be implemented They are going to "weed" a good number of pilots out of the Hobby or business simply by making them too expensive to operate as it is. I am building a small "Bandarino" freestyle Drone for a friend. The Price for the stack itself has gone up 140% IN 30 DAYS!! What was going to be a 400 or so dollar drone has skyrocketed to the insane amount of $650, instantly, and that's if you can now find a supplier willing to ship stuff from China and/or take the risk of stocking these now expensive parts hoping to sell them to an ever decreasing populous of Drone pilots.

 

[Richard R]

Legislation is somewhat irrelevant now. The current tariff on China effectively is an embargo on Drone imports. Not many will be able to afford them and it's not clear if the Mavic 4 Pro will see daylight in the USA as a result

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

Hey Guys.
Move down under to Australia.
Still room to fly here.

 

[steamedliver]

Elephant in the room, this whole thing is the result of crappy US drone manufacturers unable to compete with DJI and lobbying their congresswomen to help them by making DJI drones too hard to buy and use. It's corruption and BS to the utmost degree. Fortunately there are so many agencies using DJI that they can't ban them unless they just give away waivers to all those agencies, which then defeats the purpose of the ban because the agencies are the ones the US manufacturers want to sell to.

Nah. You saying the non existent US drone manufacturers are able to lobby congress whereas DJI (non US based manufacturers) can not?

Hardly. Takes money to lobby and there ain’t any enough in US drone manufacturing (yet). Not enough to lobby congress.

 

[Recoveryone]

Nah. You saying the non existent US drone manufacturers are able to lobby congress whereas DJI (non US based manufacturers) can not?

Hardly. Takes money to lobby and there ain’t any in US drone manufacturing.

Not sure where you have behind hiding over the last few years, between Skydio & a few other groups with deep pockets and has the ear of several key congressional members several states and continuing proposed laws keep coming through to out right ban Chinese drones, while several states have already ban the use of Chinese drones by first responders Texas, Florida, Connecticut, to name a few.

 

[steamedliver]

Not sure where you have behind hiding over the last few years, between Skydio & a few other groups with deep pockets and has the ear of several key congressional members several states and continuing proposed laws keep coming through to out right ban Chinese drones, while several states have already ban the use of Chinese drones by first responders Texas, Florida, Connecticut, to name a few.

I’ll tell you where I’ve been hiding. It’s called reality.

All the US manufactures combined have less market cap than DJI alone. Yes, you can look that up easily.

It’s not the elephant in the room. That’s just laughable.

 

[mavic3usa]

Let's be honest; how many of us would kill to get their hands on a Skydio X10D? I have the Skydio 2+ and it's still one of my favorites and in many ways, still unmatched.

 

[steamedliver]

Let's be honest; how many of us would kill to get their hands on a Skydio X10D? I have the Skydio 2+ and it's still one of my favorites and in many ways, still unmatched.

Honest? Depends on what I would have to kill.

If you are speaking of killing a human being, I would absolutely NOT do that to acquire a Skydio X10D.

 

[tstr14]

Hey Guys.
Move down under to Australia.
Still room to fly here.

Yeah, but your gun laws suck massively.

 

[Max Headroom]

Yeah, but your gun laws suck massively.

Move to the UK plenty of room to fly and guns are mainly owned by farmers so no need to worry about gun laws here.
Also Donald has only hit us with a 10% tariff here.