COMPARABLE AMERICAN DRONES TO DJI?

[Joe Herrera]

I read a social media online posting last night of a drone pilot who applied to an oil company and was rejected because he uses only DJI drones in his work. We all know DJI drones have been banned for use by US government agencies, but not yet for civilian use. Yes, there is a BILL NOT A LAW YET proposing an all-out ban on DJI drone use in the US and, I imagine, all US based drone operators, like myself, are dreading this bill's existence. Problem is that because of this, companies can choose to not employ drone pilots that use DJI drones because maybe they want to stay in the good graces of any political connections they may have.

I just got my Part 107 license and I have one drone (an M2P) and I'm learning about modeling and mapping and trying to find drone work. ALL THIS to ask a question I think I asked before. Are there ANY American-made drones that are comparable in quality and features and price affordability as any DJI drones?

 

[Dave Pitman]

No, unfortunately.

Skydio gave it a go in their beginning. But decided that they couldn't compete with DJI on technology or price (and probably scale) so they took the funding from their R&D and used it to start lobbying anyone that will listen to ban Chinese made drones. That is the market today. There are exceptions, but they are larger, more expensive drones than what you are probably thinking about (like Freefly).

With the gov't ban, many corporate type clients just follow the gov't because they don't know about the tech themselves and figure if the gov't says their bad, then they must be bad. Truth is, that the gov't can't prove that the Chinese drones are nefarious either. But it is a politically good stance from their perspective.

 

[GsquaredAerials]

Go watch this video by OriginalDobo on this subject matter. It's a complete joke and there are no US-based companies that can compete with DJI and Autel or offer the same technology and bang for the buck. One article stated a 2x to 10x times cost increase for a US-made drone. Funny how someone can convince uneducated politicians how dangerous Chinese drones are to our national security but 7 out of 10 phones in the US are made in China and those are carried in a lot more sensitive places versus a drug bust or house fire.

 

[simonphotographic]

Go watch this video by OriginalDobo on this subject matter. It's a complete joke and there are no US-based companies that can compete with DJI and Autel or offer the same technology and bang for the buck. One article stated a 2x to 10x times cost increase for a US-made drone. Funny how someone can convince uneducated politicians how dangerous Chinese drones are to our national security but 7 out of 10 phones in the US are made in China and those are carried in a lot more sensitive places versus a drug bust or house fire.

Well said, I agree completely. I... Oh, wait, I think my iPhone is sending secrets to China! No, it wasn't my phone, must have been my computer, that was made over there, too. Or, maybe it's my coffee pot?????????

 

[GsquaredAerials]

Don't forget about your vacuum.

 

[skiptv]

It's not just our drones that can not compete with DJI or Autel, None of our tech can. iPhone tech, chips and assembly come from China. (funny you dont hear congress wanting to ban the iPhone) Tesla all the chips made in China. Lets nor forget our Wide Screen TVs. Additionally several military jets have computer chips on-board made in China. They site does not allow politics so I wont get into politics. But it's all political and it's sad that in the USA I can not choose the best product for my business.

 

[Phzuidema]

Why worry about drones when there are Chinese Nationals in our Navy that send diagrams and sensitive info back to China? Trouble is, drones are the “low-hanging fruit” for political sabre rattling. We need to organize as a group or we will be trampled like turtles.

 

[GsquaredAerials]

Imagine the lives that will be lost and people that potentially won't be found because DJI drones currently owned by departments in the public safety sector are grounded? If I were a department-head tasked with choosing another company to replace the DJI equipment that we currently have, not only would I not consider any other Chinese brands because of their future government ban, I'd be weary of all drones eventually being banned.

What's also a little weird is that Skydio just sold out us consumers out for government contracts but yet the government banned drones for all public safety departments. Think they know something we don't? I've seen plenty of videos and read lots of articles saying Skydio was a big part of Tennessee and other states banning drones not on the government's Blue cleared list.