Commentary: Yes, Virginia, Chinese drones are surveilling us (2024)

DENVER RIGGLEMAN

Virginia is home to the Pentagon and CIA headquarters, Dulles and Reagan airports, Fort Belvoir and Quantico, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman. That’s a tremendous amount of government and corporate infrastructure critical to the defense of the United States and its essential operations.

Add to that almost 300 data centers that handle 70% of the world’s internet traffic and proximity to intelligence and defense sites in Washington, D.C., and Maryland. Oh, and that’s just Northern Virginia. Don’t forget naval installations in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, 3,000 miles of railroad that thread the state, and some of the most traveled roads in the United States.

Our adversaries know that striking any one of these assets could launch a cascading series of catastrophes that could cripple or compromise our nation. What if we were not only leaving ourselves open to that threat, but unwittingly aiding our enemies?

That’s what happens when well-meaning law enforcement agencies zigzag Chinese-made drones through the skies of our commonwealth.

According to DRONERESPONDERS, a nonprofit program that tracks drone use by public safety agencies across the United States, Chinese-made drones ply the skies over much of Virginia. DRONERESPONDERS reports that the Virginia State Police, Stafford County Sheriff's Office, Virginia Beach Police Department and the Fairfax County Police Department are among those flying Chinese drones over their communities.

To be clear, these police agencies deploy drones for principled purposes. As they face workforce shortages and budget constraints, public safety agencies have turned to drones to rescue lost hikers, catch suspects, document evidence and view accident scenes. Drones as first responders mitigate personal risk to officers and aid in more efficient deployment of manpower. Plainly, they save lives.

But Chinese-made drones come from companies directly linked to the People’s Liberation Army — the Chinese military — which has been engaged in non-kinetic combat with the United States for decades. Beijing’s spies have been systematically plucking sensitive proprietary information and state secrets from our companies, research institutions, labs and military infrastructure. The federal government recently disclosed that China is spying on Virginians through cranes at our state’s major port.

A national law that requires Chinese companies to share purloined proprietary information with the Chinese Communist Party has empowered and emboldened Beijing. Chinese theft of U.S. innovations in such fields as weapons systems, oil pipelines, vaccines and communications systems has shifted the balance of power to the east.

The public safety drone market is another vector of attack. Eighty-five percent of the drones flown by U.S. public safety agencies come from China, most from a company called DJI, which the U.S. Department of Defense first identified as a “Chinese Military Company” two years ago and reaffirmed in January 2024.

Drones, which carry cameras and other sensors, gather images, collect signals and map terrain. Virginia police and sheriff's deputies fly drones over our cities and our open spaces, above our bridges, reservoirs, power plants, electrical substations, railroads and factories. Software vulnerabilities, backdoors and remote access capabilities can expose this critical data to Beijing. That information is extremely valuable in China’s continuing attack against Western economies and governments. In military combat it could be put to devastating effect.

Some observers have claimed that software overlays can solve any potential software vulnerabilities, but this argument presupposes that software developers have full access to millions of lines of Chinese code. In fact, federal guidance on drone cybersecurity from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the FBI flatly states that using Chinese drones “risks exposing sensitive information to PRC authorities, jeopardizing U.S. national security, economic security, and public health and safety.”

The Chinese military has our law enforcement in a bind. DJI drones are the quintessential “loss leader”: an item discounted so heavily that no one can compete on price. Subsidized by the Chinese, DJI doesn’t fear competition. By contrast, police agencies are routinely strapped for cash. They see Chinese drones as the best bang for their buck.

Reliance on Chinese drones persist despite federal bans. In December, Congress passed the American Security Drone Act, which prohibits federal agencies from buying Chinese drones. Several states — including Florida, Arkansas, Mississippi, Nevada, Tennessee and Texas — have similar restrictions, giving law enforcement time to phase out the foreign drones.

Virginia should consider following Florida. Its legislature made $25 million available in grants for local public safety agencies to replace Chinese technology with U.S. or Western drones.

That’s a solid solution toward attaining both national security and effective local law enforcement.