Drones approved for US government purchase (No DJI drones allowed)

[tlap]

Here's the Full Story: (I just thought you'd find this story interesting. Not editorial judgement intended.)

There is clearly a focus on industrial drones.

"Today, the DoD’s Defense Innovation Unit is announcing not one, not two, but five such drones that have been tested, approved, and are now formally available for government use — including ones from formerly consumer-focused drone companies Skydio and Vantage (each based in California) and Parrot (based in France).

The five DIU-approved drones are:

• Skydio’s X2-D
• Parrot’s Anafi USA
• Altavian’s M440 Ion
• Teal Drones’ Golden Eagle
• Vantage Robotics’ Vesper"

 

[FlyoverDRN]

Makes absolutely good sense to me.

 

[pelagic_one]

Thanks for sharing the article. Sometimes I get all wrapped up in DJI marketing (and this forum) that I forget that there are plenty other companies competing for the business.

Here in the Silicon Valley, I’ve seen Chinese network equipment-maker Huawei ostracized, like DJI is getting from the Feds now. Like you, I’m not dropping editorial judgement, but I’m just seeing all the other security appliance vendors and mobile device manufacturers just filling in the void.

 

[bushie]

Nothing like a bit of xenophobia.

 

[Deleted member 114292]

Here's the Full Story: (I just thought you'd find this story interesting. Not editorial judgement intended.)

There is clearly a focus on industrial drones.

"Today, the DoD’s Defense Innovation Unit is announcing not one, not two, but five such drones that have been tested, approved, and are now formally available for government use — including ones from formerly consumer-focused drone companies Skydio and Vantage (each based in California) and Parrot (based in France).

The five DIU-approved drones are:

• Skydio’s X2-D
• Parrot’s Anafi USA
• Altavian’s M440 Ion
• Teal Drones’ Golden Eagle
• Vantage Robotics’ Vesper"

There isn’t a drone on that list you could afford

When they don’t publish a price on their website do you know what that means.

 

[jimmy_jak]

Glad to see this. China for the most part is bad for business and the US. Not xenophobia like some simple folks think.

 

[SmokingJoe]

Proud to be Xenophic when it comes to Communist China. My Mavic 2 is a great drone and the camera takes fantastic pictures. Just wish it had been designed and manufactured in the USA. Are there any similar drones (quality and price) made in the United States?

 

[xunhui]

Proud to be Xenophic when it comes to Communist China. My Mavic 2 is a great drone and the camera takes fantastic pictures. Just wish it had been designed and manufactured in the USA. Are there any similar drones (quality and price) made in the United States?

Putting quality and affordability in relation with the US, normally doesn't go so well with a request. So to answer your question, negative at this time.

 

[tlap]

Done: You're correct. All of these average over 3 grand (or more). Wouldn't everyone love to see an affordable drone that have 30 optical zoom and a 45 minute plus fly time? Not sure I'd need that infrared feature for consumer use but many of the other features look great.

 

[tlap]

Many of these commercial drones aren't yet available for purchase. So, to comment accurately, we'll need that and follow-up reviews.

 

[bushie]

Glad to see this. China for the most part is bad for business and the US. Not xenophobia like some simple folks think.

Just cause its bad for the USA does not make it bad for the rest of the world. We sell China Billions in coal and Iron ore each year.

 

[dirkclod]

Just cause its bad for the USA does not make it bad for the rest of the world. We sell China Billions in coal and Iron ore each year.

True bushie but isn’t really nothing to do with the subject.


Guys I know in threads like it is it easy not to get political
but let’s try not to. Also let’s try and stay on topic.
Thanks.

 

[Deleted member 114292]

The main reason there is no real big usa drone company is because it take a huge amount of capital to get even close to DJI's level.
You need to be able to lose money for a while.
The technology is not that hard in and of itself - there are open source flight stacks that work great.
The part are OTS but putting all together with all the pieces and having the full line AND support is daunting.

The reason is partly because DJI has done a very good job of this over the years, with much effort on their part.

And so far no company has really chosen to do so.
3DR - went into services instead - manufacturing is high risk.
Skydio - Well they can't even seem to produce them and it looks like they are going for high end government drones.
Not meant as criticism - just seems the way things are going.

Tesla broke into the car market - equally tough - but he could afford to lose billions along the way.
Talk Elon into making drones.

 

[DavidT_ NZ]

Glad to see this. China for the most part is bad for business and the US. Not xenophobia like some simple folks think.

The best thing to happen to drone development for the consumer market is DJI ...... credit where it’s due. Disclaimer: I bought a DJI Mavic Air 2 in New Zealand in May - and I am very pleased that I did. It is a fantastic piece of gear. And I bought an Apple iphone 11 Pro in December last year. Another fantastic piece of gear. And I have Google, Facebook, Amazon and Bill Gates’s Windows on my PC. And a whole lot of Apple Apps on my mobile! Am I being monitored? Too late to worry now! Just go fly ...... ????????????

 

[vindibona1]

Nothing like a bit of xenophobia.

I'm not sure the context in which you have intended your comment to be, so I'll take it as said in jest...
But for those who take it more literally, there are some important things to understand. Government use, especially for recon work can be very sensitive. DJI's applications tend to be a bit more instrusive than others, providing more information back to their servers that the evaluators found potentially intrusive at best. And I might add, that xenophobia might be used if one has no reason to dislike, mistrust or fear others. But when you have legitimate security concerns, especially when it comes to the military, xenophobia isn't a word that applies in the slightest. It is all to easy to fasten labels to things and then repeat them enough times that others start to believe the connection, even if totally untrue. I say we make our points and skip the labels. IMO that will be a huge first step to making us better people.

 

[old man mavic]

i am probably going to be vilified for what i am about to say on the subject of drones from China being used around the world
i dont think that this forum is the place to talk about expensive drones ,that are used by government agencies for a variety of missions in sensitive arenas
the drones we fly are consumer drones and dont really have the capabilities to spy on anyone
if there was an alternative home produced drone that had similar capabilities ,at a price i could afford ,then i would be more than happy to purchase one

 

[vindibona1]

i am probably going to be vilified for what i am about to say on the subject of drones from China being used around the world
i dont think that this forum is the place to talk about expensive drones ,that are used by government agencies for a variety of missions in sensitive arenas
the drones we fly are consumer drones and dont really have the capabilities to spy on anyone
if there was an alternative home produced drone that had similar capabilities ,at a price i could afford ,then i would be more than happy to purchase one

I'm not going to vilify you, but I am not certain that your position is correct if you look at the bigger picture. You see, every drone out there is connected to a phone or tablet with lots of contacts, key strokes, web visits and the software that we connect our drones with is interfaced with devices that store all that data. While collecting data from consumers may appear benign on the surface, there are all sorts of algorithms that they use now, if even just to predict behavior. I'm not accusing any drone company of harvesting data, but there are reasons why Tik-Tok is currently under scrutiny and Huawei is banned from the US. At any time the same concerns could be applied to other companies. I won't get into the geo-political aspects of this, but I have a lot that I *could* share regarding this. Even with consumer products there may be plenty of reason for some companies to use the software as Trojan Horses. And let us not forget that in China business and government have a much different relationship than they do in the US or other western countries. Just saying.

 

[Deleted member 114292]

I'm not going to vilify you, but I am not certain that your position is correct if you look at the bigger picture. You see, every drone out there is connected to a phone or tablet with lots of contacts, key strokes, web visits and the software that we connect our drones with is interfaced with devices that store all that data. While collecting data from consumers may appear benign on the surface, there are all sorts of algorithms that they use now, if even just to predict behavior. I'm not accusing any drone company of harvesting data, but there are reasons why Tik-Tok is currently under scrutiny and Huawei is banned from the US. At any time the same concerns could be applied to other companies. I won't get into the geo-political aspects of this, but I have a lot that I *could* share regarding this. Even with consumer products there may be plenty of reason for some companies to use the software as Trojan Horses. And let us not forget that in China business and government have a much different relationship than they do in the US or other western countries. Just saying.

"Just saying" suppositions with little or no facts to back them up. In all your examples.

I won't use an android phone because google is too loosey goosey about apps in the play store, but the DJI apps have been scrutinized to nth degree, by the government and many security researchers. So far no actual or meaningful security breaches have been discovered. Belive me if a security researcher could show that to be a fact it would make their career. so you can be sure they have tried.

I voluntarily up load my flight logs without hesitation. And I am someone who would never do banking or financial transactions on my phone (think stingray).

On the IPhone, if the app does not ask permission, it's not touching the data.

As for tik-tok what relevance does that have in relation to DJI apps. None and None. Guilt by association?

 

[dirkclod]

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[Deleted member 114292]

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Sorry. Just trying to restore balance to the force.