US will unleash 'drone dominance' by fast-tracking production

[mavic3usa]

Remember the EO on drones few week ago?

So I guess we now know the true reason for it.

Gosh this is super embarrassing, slightly unprofessional, and it feels 3rd world-ish to me.

No surprise which "drone" is most visible out front:

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[1gratefulflyingdawg]

Gosh this is super embarrassing, slightly unprofessional, and it feels 3rd world-ish to me.

Likewise.

 

[moldorf]

geeeeeezuzzz that's bad....amateurish vapid platitudes that mean nothing

 

[hank970]

Economics 101: Talk is cheap because, as regards the utterances of Sec'y Hegseth, supply exceeds demand.

 

[Hauptmann]

Yeah....Like it's really gonna happen.

 

[ryguy80]

I would like to see more than just talk.

GoPro, an American company, once dominated the action cam market. DJI has outpaced them by putting out a superior action cam product with actual innovation. GoPro’s stock is now peanuts on the dollar. In the U.S., your can of soda out of the vending machine is more expensive than a share of GoPro stock…

 

[Meta4]

I was quite impressed with Capt. Meritocracy's message delivery drone.
It could revolutionise battlefield communications.

 

[Meta4]

GoPro, an American company, once dominated the action cam market

In 2015 in the heyday of GoPro they announced they were going into the drone market
It took nearly two years before they released their Karma, a huge, ugly drone that was obsolete before it was released.
They started falling from the sky at an alarming rate and were all recalled and quietly relaunched later.
It turned out to be a dismal failure but this quirky review of the relaunched version is good for a chuckle.

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[Starz]

As soon as I heard “millions of cheap drones”, I had his IQ figured out.
Will be interesting to see the cost reduction for this particular hobby when the market is flooded with whatever stupendous products he mentions.

 

[Vic Moss]

The U.S. will never have "drone dominance", just like we'll never have dominance for any product that requires this level of manufacturing. We have been offshoring manufacturing (along with R&D and tech support) since the 1970s. Are we supposed to wave some magic wand and make it all come back? We don't have access to raw materials (even though we have MASSIVE lithium deposits) , nor do we have the manufacturing capabilities to produce the 100's of 1000s of new drones every year that we'll need to supply both the commercial and recreational side of the industry.

It's a pipe dream made up and supplied by the anti-China crowd, and pushed politically by U.S. manufacturers that can't compete with DJI and Autel.

 

[Starz]

to wave some magic wand

I think I saw that in his pocket?

 

[BlueHeeler]

Aww come on Pete, that was Cheesy.

 

[Dave Pitman]

It's a pipe dream made up and supplied by the anti-China crowd

It's more than just "anti China". They are intellectually deficient. From the headlines; thinking injecting bleach might stop a viral infection (It won't, but it will stop you from living). And, the bright idea of having nursing home residents replace the deported agricultural work force. Just to name a couple great ideas.

 

[anotherlab]

Consumer electronics manufacturing has left the US for good. The entire manufacturing process uses parts fabricated in Asia. This administration can say whatever it wants about bringing production to the US, but we don't have the infrastructure in the US to make anything like a phone or drone.

GoPro designs its products in the us, but the actual products are assembled in China (for the international market) and in Mexico (for the US market). At either location, their products are assembled with parts that were fabricated in Asia.

There's a book, Apple in China, that came out this year by financial reporter Patrick McGee. It details how Apple moved all of it's production to China and how tightly they are bound to being in China. When you see how the manufacturing process is set up there, you'll see that there is no realistic way for Apple to make its devices in the US. That's applicable to drone manufacturing as well.

 

[Nanny Ogg]

I think I saw that in his pocket?

That was just a flask.

 

[Nanny Ogg]

How many patents will need to be violated to come up with anything of equal quality to a DJI or Autel drone? Is there any company in the US that could manufacture a Hasselblad camera for any price? Given the current administration's attitude towards science and education, where will they find the engineers to design and build this technology? Don't hold your breath.

 

[anotherlab]

Skip the YouTube videos and just read the executive order, "Unleashing American Drone Dominance", at Unleashing American Drone Dominance
It's in plain English and easy to read.

Jumping to the parts about making drones in the US....

Sec. 7. Strengthening the American Drone Industrial Base.

(a) All agencies shall prioritize the integration of UAS manufactured in the United States over those made abroad to the maximum extent permitted by law.

(b) In order to protect the integrity of America’s drone supply chain and ensure our technology remains secure from undue foreign influence and exploitation, within 30 days of the date of this order, the Federal Acquisition Security Council shall publish a Covered Foreign Entity List, as defined in section 1822(1) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (Public Law 118-31), identifying companies that pose supply chain risks.

(c) To ensure that vital components remain under American control and free from national security risks, within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Commerce shall take actions, including proposing rulemaking and conducting investigations, to secure the United States drone supply chain against foreign control or exploitation.

That looks like a direct shot at DJI

And in 8(c)

The Secretary of Defense, the President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Chief Executive Officer of the United States International Development Finance Corporation, and the Director of the Trade and Development Agency shall, to the maximum extent permitted by law, prioritize and support the export of United States-manufactured civil UAS and related systems through the use of, as appropriate:

(i) direct loans and loan guarantees;

(ii) equity investments and co-financing;

(iii) political risk insurance and credit guarantees;

(iv) technical assistance, feasibility studies, and grant mechanisms;

(v) market access facilitation; and

(vi) any other incentive mechanisms authorized by law.

Lots of Good Sounding Stuff™ for sound bites, but nothing that would make it cost-competitive to manufacture drones in the US.

They can make it easy to provide financing, but it doesn't address the core issues.

• All of the parts are made in Southeast Asia. Most, if not all, in China
• The supply chain is much shorter for most parts, usually in the same city
• The labor is much cheaper
• Labor safety laws in China are not enforced

 

[microlinux]

Oh thank god, we’re saved, he pushed the “Make drones” button.

 

[MS Coast]

Are we supposed to wave some magic wand and make it all come back?

The man who lives in that big white house on the hill nearby believes that tariffs are that magic wand. But that wand is looking more and more like nothing but a broken stick.

 

[MS Coast]

Well, Pete, if it's so easy to quickly create a domestic American drone industry and supply the entire US market, why not do the same thing for all consumer electronics, major appliances, automobiles, shoes, red baseball caps, and clothing, too?