The House Select Committee on China (HSCC) has sounded the alarm on the ties between a U.S. drone firm and its Chinese partner that has the backing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
U.S. Reps. John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) expressed concern over the links between Austin, Texas-based Anzu Robotics and the Beijing-backed military drone firm DJI through an Aug. 20 letter to Anzu CEO Randall Warnas. Moolenaar chairs the HSCC while Krishnamoorthi serves as its ranking member.
"Security researchers have confirmed that Anzu's Raptor T is essentially a DJI Mavic 3 painted green, with its remote control and application all running on DJI technology," the letter stated. The two congressmen included diagrams and photographs showing similarities and shared parts between the Anzu and DJI models.
An article by Drone DJ from June further bolstered the links between Anzu and DJI. According to the piece, both the U.S. firm's Raptor and Raptor T drones "are based on the DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise platform, but the country of origin … is Malaysia" – ostensibly to bypass sanctions.
"Anzu did not disclose its relationship with DJI in its filings with the [Federal Communications Commission], even while the Anzu drone was found to include DJI parts," the letter continued. Per the Epoch Times, it was only after security researchers made their findings public that the two companies both acknowledged that they had a partnership.
Moolenaar and Krishnamoorthi asked Warnas to disclose the terms of Anzu's partnership with DJI, arguing that publicly available evidence reviewed by the HSCC has led lawmakers to believe it is meant to conceal the entry of CCP-backed technology into the United States. "The nature of the DJI–Anzu relationship appears to defy common business conventions," they wrote, citing two examples.
First, DJI reportedly receives no royalties while Anzu is licensing the Chinese company's technology. Second, DJI is also providing "priority technical support" for all Anzu drones – with the congressmen providing a screenshot attesting to this.
They ultimately demanded Anzu to provide a detailed breakdown of its parts and technologies, as well as its sources. The top members of the HSCC gave Warnas and his company a deadline of Sept. 13 to comply.
DJI already sanctioned by other U.S. agencies
Warnas wrote in an email to the Epoch Times: "We believe there are fundamental misunderstandings about how Anzu Robotics operates and complies with the law. We look forward to working collaboratively with the [HSCC] to address their concerns." The Anzu CEO did not provide specific details to debunk the lawmakers' accusations, however.
According to the news outlet, DJI is known to be an entity controlled by the CCP – with Washington identifying it as a security risk. In July 2021, the U.S. Department of Defense designated it as a Chinese military firm. It also warned that DJI systems pose "potential threats to national security." (Related: China ramping up production of military drones to rival US drone fleet, leaked defense ministry document shows.)
The U.S. Department of the Treasury (DOT) and the U.S. Department of Commerce also sanctioned DJI. According to the DOT, "DJI has provided drones to the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau, which are used to surveil Uyghurs in Xinjiang."
Earlier this year, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives passed the Countering CCP Drones Act. The measure would ban DJI from accessing U.S. communications networks if signed into law.
The two lawmakers from the HSCC argued that Anzu's use of DJI software and firmware leaves its products vulnerable to a CCP-based supply chain attack. Even the software that didn't come from DJI is based on the Chinese firm's technology, they added.
But Anzu was not the first company Moolenaar and Krishnamoorthi called out. In a separate Aug. 20 letter, the two asked Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to investigate Cogito Tech Company for its ties to DJI and the CCP. According to the HSCC, Cogito allegedly serves as a smokescreen for DJI by reselling drones with DJI technology under a different name and brand.
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