If Chinese drones are shut off, it will cause the drone service provider (DSP) industry to cease to exist. This is an industry projected to be $15B within 5 years. US OEMs do not currently have the infrastructure to support the industry nor the quality of the Chinese drones. We got here by falling asleep at the wheel for over a decade. Now we find ourselves in a ditch needing a tow.
Solution:
Establish cybersecurity standards that All OEMs regardless of origin country must adhere to in order to sell drones in the US. This sets a level playing field and forces transparency. Why friendly countries? Because a) Israel and NATO countries have been caught spying on the US, and b) there are even US manufacturers of equipment (mostly arms) that are owned by potential domestic terrorist (e.g., sovereign citizens).
Require all drones in the US to have geofencing to enforce airspace restrictions to critical infrastructure. This should be linked to live publicly available airspace restriction data bases. (Visualize it). Geofencing can be released with a controlling agency issued token.
If Chinese or other countries can adhere to these standards, it is an open market.
Fund US OEM development. Create innovation contests with hefty prize money for entrepreneurs. Create grants and government backed loans for small business development. However, this funding cannot just focus on military or enterprise grade drones. It also needs to fill the prosumer gap (e.g., Mavic 3, Air 3S, Autel 640T, etc.).
Grandfather existing Chinese equipment for at least 5 years. Most DSPs sunset their equipment every 3 year due to end of life issues.
A free market economy will sort it all out, if standards are created and enforced. Much of the Chinese threat has been overstated. DOD and DHS have been caught doing (at best) sloppy research, but more than likely deliberate obfuscation at the behest of the US drone OEM lobby. Just look at the past 5 years of US OEM lobbying accounting on Open Secrets. The is a distinct spike in contributions aligning with anti-Chinese drone rhetoric. Don’t believe me, look for yourself.
BTW, what all this have to do with Joby and Archer? They do not make drones.
Your argument oversimplifies U.S. actions and lets China and Russia off the hook for their own exploitation and aggression. It sounds like propaganda, pushing a black-and-white view of global politics.
Forget about drones. For more than a decade now, some SmartTVs have been equipped to spy on any activity within earshot of the microphone and in line of sight of the camera surreptitiously mounted within the bezel. And they’ve been selling the information via the WiFi interface to whoever’s web address is programmed into the firmware. When it was discovered in a big-name TV, the manufacturer issued a brief apology for not revealing that the camera and mic were installed, but strenuously maintained that they were not spying on you. And people laughed it off, nobody really cared. Congress’ performance has been cringeworthy compared to the EU when it comes to protecting the citizen’s privacy, but no surprise there… data is big money and money comes attached to the lobbyists that line Congress’ pockets and reelection campaigns.
The U.S. is waking up to China’s sinister plans too late and doing too little about it. Not that they CAN do much about it. When Congress holds “hearings” (at which they do all the talking) on IT issues, before the session has ended snippets of the proceedings are on YouTube, the abject ignorance and confusion of members of Congress on even the most elementary concepts providing both comic relief and mounting alarm that these people are entrusted with developing the strategic plans for our nation’s security.
It’s been years since social experts realized that TikTok is a highly effective psychological weapon, designed to destroy people insidiously and indiscriminately, especially young children and the young adult working population that keeps America’s economy humming—or used to. It should be treated like a Schedule I drug, yet Congress has handled it with all the enthusiasm of a tranquilized sloth. That it is banned in China should have been a huge red flag, but voilà Congress—finally taking a stance, but arguing that it is skimming citizens’ data, which isn’t likely to stick in the courts.