China is a major maker of drones, but what they collect and share with their Chinese military hardware manufacturer companies isn’t well understood or appreciated:
China’s drones are its greatest weapon in today’s information warfare
The Hill News / by Rob Joyce / Jun 20, 2024 at 8:47 AM
I’ve spent a career studying and mitigating threats from our most significant adversaries, and it is clear the growing threat from Chinese-made drones is dire and underappreciated.
I couldn’t be happier to see members of Congress working across the aisle to rid the U.S. of these dangerous products. Across my decades of public service, including as the acting homeland security adviser for the U.S. National Security Council and director of cybersecurity for the National Security Agency, I recognize urgent threats to our nation when I see them. Chinese drones are one of the most significant intelligence and national security threats we currently face as a country.
When it comes to national security, drones have changed the game.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine demonstrates the expansive and exceptional capabilities of both large and small drones. The world has awakened to the power of these technical marvels. From the war’s earliest days, drones played a key role as intelligence collectors, becoming deadly spotters for artillery and irreplaceable for understanding adversary movements.
Drone tradecraft rapidly evolved, making them hyper-accurate explosive delivery systems in their own right. The Ukrainians made massive innovations in their employment, including how they replace artillery and mortars and even using their footage for real-time information operations. Future conflicts will never be the same.
Today, drones have become ubiquitous in conflict zones across the world. They formed part of the barrage Iran fired at Israel in April. They’ve breached South Korean airspace. Both sides in Sudan’s ongoing civil war are deploying them. Houthi rebels are strapping bombs to drones as a menace to Red Sea shipping.
That’s precisely why it’s a problem that China currently controls the drone marketplace, with companies like Da Jiang Innovations (which the Department of Defense has deemed a Chinese military company) and Autel Robotics accounting for more than half of global sales. China is rapidly advancing both the capabilities of these drones and their national capacity to manufacture them. We will continue to lag behind without a trusted and independent supply chain.
This year, the U.S. government sounded the alarm about China’s efforts to pre-position cyber attack capability in our civilian critical infrastructure. So while U.S. businesses and hobbyists are legitimately using these Chinese-made drones to image and map our critical infrastructure, the data they accrue is still at risk for exploitation in the same Chinese preparations for conflict.
Because of China’s strict Military Civil Fusion data-sharing requirements, there is no daylight between Chinese companies and the Chinese Communist Party — especially ones like Da Jiang Innovations, which receives direct funding from the Chinese government. All the information these drones are soaking up is available on demand to China’s intelligence apparatus.
And make no mistake about it: the CCP uses its industry to its advantage.
In 2017, customs authorities accused Da Jiang Innovations of passing along sensitive information about American infrastructure. In 2022, lawmakers received a series of classified briefings where they reportedly learned that hundreds of drones had breached restricted airspace in Washington, D.C., including near the White House and Pentagon.
Then, in January 2024, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and FBI warned that China “has enacted laws that provide the government with expanded legal grounds for accessing and controlling data held by firms in China” and that the “use of Chinese-manufactured [unmanned aerial systems] in critical infrastructure operations risks exposing sensitive information to [Chinese] authorities.”
The more U.S. companies — especially those involved in sectors like construction, communications and transportation — introduce drones into their daily operations, the greater the risk.
Companies cannot simply vet their drones’ software to ensure they’re not calling home to Beijing, either. As the agencies note, “updates controlled by Chinese entities could introduce unknown data collection and transmission capabilities without the user’s awareness.” All it would take is a few keystrokes to turn a harmless drone into a highly effective espionage device.
Additionally, Beijing intimately understands what is collected, along with where and how it is stored. That’s a tremendous advantage for the country, even if the data they desire is not initially transmitted back to China.
Congress enacted important restrictions on using Chinese-manufactured drones in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. Starting in December 2025, federal funds can’t be used to purchase drones made in China, Russia, Iran or North Korea, and drones that use certain components made in those countries.
This is a good start to help the supply chain issue, but it is not enough to address the present risk they pose.
Thankfully, Democratic and Republican lawmakers are again uniting to resolve this issue.
The bipartisan Countering CCP Drones Act, which is working its way through the House of Representatives, would ban future licensing of Da Jiang Innovations technologies for use on U.S. communications infrastructure.
Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik called the bill “a win for America’s national security and a win for Americans whose data and critical infrastructure has been collected and monitored by our adversary Communist China.” It also drew praise from Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), who said the legislation would “protect our communications equipment while strengthening American supply chains.” For all these reasons, the legislation currently boasts an impressive list of Democratic and Republican co-sponsors.
Keeping this country safe in the coming decades will mean developing our own military technologies and tactics as we advance the art of drone warfare. But it will also mean recognizing the threat of drone-based espionage. We wouldn’t willingly give our greatest rival air superiority in wartime. We shouldn’t do it in peacetime, either.
Kudos to the members of Congress who have demonstrated such wisdom and foresight in introducing and pushing this bill. We’ll all be better off because of it.
Rob Joyce is a cybersecurity leader with more than 34 years in the intelligence community. Previously, he served as acting homeland security adviser and special assistant to the president on the U.S. National Security Council, and as director of cybersecurity for the National Security Agency.
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/4730109-china-drones-intelligence-weapon/
