US military waives use of DJI drones due to security vulnerabilities

A leaked memo from the US Department of Defense shows that the military wants to stop using drones from the Chinese company DJI. This would have to do with vulnerabilities in the products. The ministry has not yet confirmed the authenticity of the memo.

The memo was published by drone website sUAS News. The document states that the DJI copies are the most commonly used drones within the US military. Further on, it reads: “The increased focus on vulnerabilities in DJI products has determined that the U.S. military will stop using all DJI products.” Apart from drones, this would also apply to all devices and software in which DJI components are present.

The Ministry of Defense has not yet responded to the memo, write, among others, The Verge and The Register. As a result, it is unclear what exactly the vulnerabilities are. Drone manufacturer DJI has issued a response to the sites. It says the company is “surprised and disappointed” by the decision, which was not communicated in advance by the military. It therefore wants to contact itself to confirm the contents of the memo.

DJI introduced restrictions in May for users who refuse to register the drones. With the registration obligation, the company wants to ensure that users cannot circumvent measures such as geofencing. Because this does happen, the manufacturer came up with a firmware update a few days ago.

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