Why Is The U.S. Air Force Buying Chinese Drones?

Wall Street Journal: Air Force Purchase of Chinese Drones Spurs Security Concerns 

The military uses drones for training and other purposes as lawmakers, experts warn of possible risks of data theft 

The U.S. Air Force recently bought dozens of Chinese-made drones to use for testing and training, according to officials and records of the purchase, fueling concerns about continued Defense Department use of technology that lawmakers consider a threat to national security. 

The Air Force Special Operations Command, the service’s highly trained commando division, bought 57 drones in September from Da-Jiang Innovations, or DJI, the world’s largest maker of unmanned aerial systems, based in Shenzhen, China. 

They will be used to train airmen on how they could be used against the U.S. or its allies and how to defeat them, officials said. 

Air Force officials said the drones are cost-effective and useful, and a DJI spokesman said they don’t pose a risk of data loss or theft. 

But critics have said the drones could be used to gather information about the U.S. military and critical infrastructure, or in other instances of espionage and data collection, sending the information back to China. 

“Why would we allow the U.S. government to purchase drones from China?” Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) said. “Doing so allows Beijing to gather sensitive data from us and rewards an adversary at the expense of our own American manufacturers.” 

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WNU Editor: The drones are to be used for testing and training. The whole world is buying Chinese drones. It makes sense to find out what are the vulnerabilities and weaknesses in these drones.