Drone News Roundup: DJI Ban Not Moving Forward, Feeding Sharks from Drones, and More!
BY Zacc Dukowitz
18 July 2024This week we’re covering big news on the proposed DJI ban—the Senate hasn’t included the Countering CCP Drones Act in its version of the 2025 NDAA, which means the ban is dead in the water, at least for now. Read the first section below for the details.
We’re also covering a Shark Week video that features drones testing the agility of great whites, the potential dangers of Remote ID for drone pilots, DJI’s annual report on drones in agriculture, and Wing’s latest innovation in drone delivery.
Now on to the links!
DJI Ban Won’t Get Passed—For Now
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The Countering CCP Drones Act—commonly called the DJI ban, since it calls for banning all DJI drones in the U.S.—is not moving forward. The law was included in the House version of the 2025 NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) and sent to the Senate last month. Last year, the ASDA (American Security Drone Act) was included in the 2024 NDAA, and became law that way. (The ASDA implemented a Chinese drone ban for federal agencies.) The Senate hasn’t included the Countering CCP Drones Act in its version of the 2025 NDAA, which it released last week. Assuming no changes get made, this means the DJI ban isn’t moving forward for now.
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Drones Hang Food in Front of Great Whites to Test Their Agility
We’ve heard of using drones to keep people safe from sharks. But have you heard of using drones for testing sharks’ agility? That’s the use case featured in the video above, which the Discovery Channel put out recently during its annual Shark Week. In the video, researchers use drones equipped with a bait line to test the agility of great white sharks (which, no surprise, is pretty incredible). Jump to 00:42 in the video to see what we’re talking about.
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Is Remote ID Dangerous for Drone Pilots?
A commercial drone pilot in Texas recently shared a disturbing story about someone using Remote ID to locate and threaten him while he was doing agriculture work with his drone. According to the pilot, a stranger figured out “exactly where I was using the remote ID broadcast” and then drove up and almost pinned “me between their car and my trailer and in the middle of my landing zone.” The stranger had a gun and “started screaming at me to get the damn drone off his . . . land.” The pilot goes on to clarify that he wasn’t on the man’s land, and was in fact working for the land’s owner.
This is exactly the kind of situation drone pilots worried about when the FAA first proposed the Remote ID rule. At the time, the FAA addressed these concerns by saying that only authorized authorities would be able to use the Remote ID broadcast to locate pilots. Clearly, that’s not been the case. And with more and more people shooting at drones and harassing drone pilots, these concerns seem more valid now than ever.
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Annual Report Shows Major Growth for Agriculture Drones
Credit: DJI
Speaking of drones in agriculture, DJI just put out its annual report on the subject. The report’s findings are impressive, showcasing the big, positive impact that drone technology is having on farming—and on the environment. Here are some standout stats from the report:
- Ag drones are operating in 100 countries and regions.
- Ag drones have helped save 210 million metric tons of water (the equivalent of the annual water consumption of 390 million people).
- Ag drones treated 500 million hectares of farmland in the last year (that’s 1.9 million square miles).
- Ag drones have helped reduce carbon emissions by 25.72 million metric tons (the equivalent of saving 1.2 billion trees).
The report also details the legislative progress made for ag drones throughout the world, taking a close look at many of the countries where they operate. Follow the link below to read the full 35-page report.
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Wing’s Latest Innovation in Drone Delivery
We’ve all seen drones use a wire to lower packages to the ground. But have you wondered how they actually hold and release the package from the line? There are different ways to do it, and Wing has created an innovative “pill” package hook that is a crucial part of how its deliveries get made. The pill is designed to be aerodynamic and be stable in flight—even when going as fast as 65 mph. Watch the video above to see how it works.
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