Extracted as part of a longer article in this morning's WSJ:

By Katy Stech Ferek

Biography
@KatyStech
katy.stech@wsj.com

July 6, 2019 5:30 am ET

WASHINGTON—Citing national security, lawmakers are looking to ban military purchases of Chinese-made drones—which could boost prospects for U.S. makers struggling to compete.

The National Defense Authorization Act passed by the Senate last week would bar Chinese drones for military use as U.S. officials grow worried that the country’s reliance on Chinese drones may be putting critical U.S. infrastructure at risk. They are concerned the drones may be sending information back to the Chinese government or hackers elsewhere to use for cyberattacks or other offenses.

The House version of the bill, expected to get a vote this month, would ban foreign drones.

“Chinese-made drones pose a huge national-security risk,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.), who pushed for the Senate provision. “We must do everything we can to reverse course, and put local manufacturing jobs and national security first.”

In addition to multimillion-dollar drones capable of flying long distances and carrying out sophisticated tasks, the U.S. military also relies on smaller, more agile drones for surveillance, training and other uses.

The Pentagon last year banned purchases of commercial, off-the-shelf drones until it can determine how to mitigate security risks, including when drones are used for surveillance of military installations and critical infrastructure. Military units can ask for exemptions. A Defense Department representative didn’t respond to a request asking how many have been granted.

Joint Base Andrews in Maryland said in a June 26 posting to a federal contracting website that it plans to buy several dozen drones made by China’s SZ DJI Technology Co. to patrol the base. Andrews officials didn’t respond to a request for comment.

In a 2017 memo, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned that it believes DJI is “selectively targeting government and privately owned entities within these sectors to expand its ability to collect and exploit sensitive U.S. data.”
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