Ask HN: Thoughts on US drone industry after Chinese production ban | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Thoughts on US drone industry after Chinese production ban

2 pointsguywithahat4 comments

So as you may or may not know, over the past year the Trump admin has been moving to ban Chinese drone sales in the US, and is finally pulling the trigger and banning them (with more information to come). FCC Chair: https://x.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/2003179047438762084

This means you won't be able to import new drone models from Chinese companies like DJI or Autel. Is anyone trying to take advantage of this? It seems like there's about to be a huge shakeup in the consumer and professional drone market yet nobody is talking about it.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, and especially if anyone is working on a company associated with this ban (one which either produces drones or is going to move towards the consumer market).

NYT: https://archive.ph/Bvrhb

WaPo: https://archive.ph/Lxdbu

Epoch Times: https://archive.ph/XhAjm

It all stems from this: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/05/17/2019-10....

Chinese made telecommunications, EV cars, drones, or anything that can be used to provide a detailed map/surveillance of the US by China will eventually be banned.

I don't have the capital for it right now but hearing about all this stuff makes me want to start a hardware company lol. Drones are the most relevant to my current work, but networking hardware sounds like fun too.

I was hoping to hear more about what's happening on the front although I suppose the people doing things probably aren't spending their evenings on HN

I'm not sure epoch times should ever be used as a source...

This is a hugely important strategic move. I reluctantly concede that the federal government has done exactly the right thing. (With the possible exception that they should have done it sooner and more decisively)

1) Drone warfare is critical to current and future armed conflicts. 2) us drone technology is currently 100% dependent on the Chinese supply chain 3) it takes time to build up a local supply chain 4) China has promised to attack Taiwan in 2027 and the US has promised to depend it. That conflict may pivot on who has the best drones in the opening, mid and end of the conflict.

Banning Chinese drones is step one in building a robust sovereign drone supply chain. It may already be too late but it sure as shit is better than waiting any longer. They’d better do batteries next or it will all be for nought.

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