Deep Dive: Chinese drones rule US skies
What's new: Heritage's Lora Ries (@lora_ries) and JV Venable (@JVVenable) have published a new report explaining China's dominance of the US drone market.
Why this matters: The report, Chinese-Made Drones: A Direct Threat Whose Use Should Be Curtailed, explains current and emerging drone technologies, the data threats of Chinese drone manufacturers, and what the US should do to realize the benefits of this critical technology while mitigating foreign threats to American information.
Key Points (selected from the report):
The vast majority of commercial unmanned aerial systems (UAS) used in the U.S. are manufactured in China, and their operating systems are impressive and worrisome.
The technology is advancing rapidly, and the capabilities currently found in large drones is now being miniaturized and will likely migrate to smaller drones in the near term, which will significantly broaden the threat.
However, the understanding of the risk and/or the willingness for state and local agencies to thwart those drones from collecting sensitive data is limited—at best.
The United States government needs to address and stop the collection and transfer of data by drones to any foreign-based corporation before this incredible capability is turned against us.
Stats and facts:
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which registers drones in the U.S., there were fewer than 50,000 commercial drones in operation at the end of 2016.
Klon Kitchen is a managing director at Beacon Global Strategies and a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
