A public memo from the Office of Homeland Security urging local agencies to scout for drone launches near critical assets and warn against further attacks on illegal drones

The document shows the DHS has encouraged local agencies to scout for launch sites near critical assets while offering a number of recommendations designed to mitigate a threat the agency believes is growing by the day. Local officials have been advised to reposition CCTV cameras to aid in capturing evidence of airborne threats, and to start training local police on how to handle downed drones believed to carry hazardous and explosive materials. The agency has encouraged local agencies to use legal sensor capable of detecting and identifying commercial drones.

The memo, first obtained by Property of the People, a nonprofit focused on transparency and national security, was circulated roughly three months before the recent flurry of alleged drone sightings along the East Coast—growing national interest in which has been driven in part by the government’s own nebulous response.

Major advances in the area of modifying off-the-shelf drones to ferry dangerous components, such as explosives and chemicals, are being propelled by rampant experimentation on foreign battlefields.

There is some good news in the post that the law does not explicitly prohibit DJI products, but that the US government is making it difficult for Chinese companies to compete in the US market.

So it’ll really be up to the Trump administration as to whether it wants to rescue the Chinese drone company, in the year after he takes office. It is up to DJI if Trump would prefer to see fewer products in the country. It wouldn’t be surprising if DJI tries to get face time with Trump in the near future — like TikTok, which is more imminently facing a ban.

The Defense Authorization Act (NDAA): An Overview and Implications for DJI and the Specta, Cogito and Raptor

The bill passed the House of Representatives and is on the way to President Biden, where it is certain to cause a partial government shutdown if not signed into law.

The text of the bill may possibly prevent DJI from exploiting the loophole of whitelabeling its drones under other brand names, as it seems to have been doing with the Anzu Robotics Raptor and Cogito Specta. The legislation tells the FCC to add any subsidiary, affiliate or partner and any entity that has a technology sharing or licensing agreement to the covered list.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the yearly defense spending bill, has passed the US Senate, and it may have major implications for the world’s largest drone company.