Dronemaker DJI sues Pentagon over Chinese military listing, alleges significant financial harm

DJI, the world’s largest drone manufacturer that sells more than half of all U.S. commercial drones, sued the Department of Defense for classifying the drone maker as allegedly working with the Chinese military.

On Friday, DJI asked a U.S. District Judge in Washington to order its removal from the Pentagon list designating it as a “Chinese military company,” saying it “is neither owned nor controlled by the Chinese military.”

DJI said that the DOD’s classification had caused “lost business deals, been stigmatized as a national security threat, and been banned from contracting with multiple federal government agencies.”

“U.S. and international customers have terminated existing contracts with DJI and refuse to enter into new ones,” the lawsuit said.

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DJI said on Friday it filed the lawsuit after the Defense Department did not engage with the company over the designation for more than 16 months, saying it “had no alternative other than to seek relief in federal court.”

“On October 18, DJI filed a lawsuit to challenge the Department of Defense’s (DoD) erroneous designation of the company as a ‘Chinese Military Company,’ DJI told Fox News Digital on Friday. “After attempting to engage with the DoD for more than sixteen months, during which time DJI highlighted numerous deficiencies in the report that formed the basis for the DoD’s decision to list DJI. Despite these efforts, the DoD declined to remove DJI from the list. DJI determined it had no alternative other than to seek relief in federal court.

“DJI is not owned or controlled by the Chinese military, and the DoD itself acknowledges that DJI makes consumer and commercial drones, not military drones. DJI is a private company and should not be misclassified as a military company. The company disputes the CMC designation and maintains that it is not affiliated with any military activities.”

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Many major Chinese firms are on the list, including aviation company AVIC, memory chipmaker YMTC, China Mobile, and energy company CNOOC.

U.S. lawmakers have repeatedly raised concerns that DJI drones pose data transmission, surveillance and national security risks, something the company rejects.

Last month, the U.S. House voted to bar new drones from DJI from operating in the U.S. The bill awaits U.S. Senate action.