US government grounds drones over China worries
The government uses the drones for a range of purposes
The U.S. Department of Interior said Wednesday it is temporarily grounding its non-emergency drone fleet for cybersecurity reasons.
The department had already grounded roughly 800 Chinese-made drones in October.
TRUMP TO STOP CIVILIAN DRONE PROGRAM OVER CHINA TECH CONCERNS
The government uses such unmanned aircraft systems for fighting wildfires, search and rescue, surveying federal land and other purposes.
A hexacopter drone is flown by Doug Bennett, senior technician and operator for Intelligent UAS, during a drone demonstration at a farm and winery on potential use for board members of the National Corn Growers in Cordova, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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The department traced the decision to June's Presidential Determination No. 2019-13, which found U.S. production capability for small drones "essential to the national defense."
"With this Order, the Department is taking action to ensure that our minimum procurement needs account for such concerns, which include cybersecurity, technological considerations and facilitating domestic production capability," Interior Secretary David Bernhardt wrote.