Enemy Overhead: How Chinese Drones Are Quietly Claiming American Airspace

With amazement, we saw how Ukraine and Israel embedded drones inside enemy territories, lying in wait until the time was right to turn them into weapons of war — all controlled remotely. This very strategic foundation is being laid throughout rooftops across America’s cities.

Drones are proliferating around the world for every imaginable use, from public safety, infrastructure inspection, delivery services, and, of course, for warfare. Cameras are getting better, flight times are increasing, and costs are coming down. These alluring trends are not slowing. Technological breakthroughs hold great promise for Americans to grow our economy and protect our nation.

While technological breakthroughs are typically created for the betterment of mankind, nefarious ideas often follow. The Wright brothers never imagined that their creation would one day be used to fly into buildings and intentionally kill over 3,000 people in one morning.

Most of the drones used in the United States are made by companies serving our main geopolitical rival, the People’s Republic of China. About three-quarters of the American drone market is dominated by Chinese-made drones, meaning there are roughly 700,000 Chinese drones flying over our country already. As the number of Chinese drones in our airspace continues to increase by the day, the potential threat to our safety and our privacy is only growing. It’s not just Chinese drones in our skies; it’s Chinese-made drone docks on our public and private rooftops, continually networked, albeit sold and installed by American companies.

Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

If anyone thinks that this is paranoid or excessive, remember that in China, there is effectively no such thing as a private sector. Chinese drone companies — like all other Chinese companies — are ultimately answerable to the Chinese Communist Party.

Across American cities, many drone docking stations are made by the Chinese company Shenzhen Da-Jiang Innovations Sciences and Technologies Ltd, commonly known as DJI. These DJI docks are being installed at our public safety departments as ‘Drone as First Responder’ (DFR) programs. These drone stations connect online 24/7 and can launch autonomously, thus offering real-time video surveillance. While DFR is a powerful and promising innovation in public safety, concern arises when it’s implemented using DJI systems — technology the Department of Defense classifies as Chinese military hardware. Because these systems require persistent connectivity, unlike manually flown drones, they create the perfect vector for foreign surveillance or disruption. In fact, there is evidence, as reported by the Department of Homeland Security, that the Chinese government is already using drones to spy on us.

The first responder programs, when done right, expedite emergency reactions and enhance safety, however, when performed by adversarial military hardware, it amounts to a foreign surveillance on our communities. Unfortunately, a growing number of our public safety departments are adopting drone programs that include DJI military hardware docking stations.

China has already been caught deploying unlisted technologies capable of surveilling Americans within Chinese-made solar panels. It is not farfetched to imagine them using their drone dominance to do the same thing — and on a massive scale. With 400 million cameras, China also dominates the world’s surveillance camera market. The idea of our country’s main rival cornering both markets within our own country has been alarming for leaders in Congress and the Pentagon alike.

Recognizing the security risks associated with Chinese drones, President Trump issued a significant Executive Order (EO) advancing American leadership in drone technology. His EO is aimed at “unleashing American drone dominance” and “restoring American airspace sovereignty.” For similar national security concerns, in May of 2019, President Trump prohibited U.S. companies from doing business with Huawei, a Chinese surveillance camera company, without government approval.

Following President Trump’s lead, State and local governments have the authority to prohibit the purchase of new Chinese-manufactured drones and docks. American-made alternatives are a clear national security priority. Our modern emergency response systems should not be an intelligence gatherer or a potential saboteur for our main adversary.

This is not about fear as much as it is about foresight. Replacing Chinese drone docks with American systems is a matter of basic sovereignty, security, and common sense. Our skies should serve us, not the Chinese Communist Party.

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Brad Wenstrup is a former six-term republican congressman from Ohio who served on the Intelligence and Armed Services Committees. A doctor of podiatric medicine, Wenstrup also served as a U.S. Army Reserve officer and is a recipient of the Bronze Star.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.