There’s been no hysteria over mysterious drones in the North Dakota skies, unlike other parts of the country. Yet hundreds of Chinese-manufactured drones operated by North Dakota state agencies are set to be grounded and swapped out due to heightened security concerns, under legislation introduced in Bismarck.
The move to end the use of suspect drones was set in motion by new federal national security requirements, according to the Bismarck Tribune.
Lawmakers unanimously advanced a bill aimed at replacing over 300 Chinese-made drones used by North Dakota agencies due to security concerns, though development of drone infrastructure in the bill drew scrutiny from lawmakers.
House Bill 1038 would create a $15 million program to replace all drones used by North Dakota agencies that do not comply with the National Defense Authorization Act and the American Security Drone Act of 2023. In short, any drones that are manufactured in adversarial countries would be replaced.
The bill would result in the grounding of nearly 90 percent of the drones currently in service by state government — all made by the Chinese company DJI. The units would be phased out over time as replacements from approved companies become available.
“Even if out of the 307 we have one of these that are bad, it’s worth doing,” Nathe said. “So, these drones are flying all over our state. They’re flying over our communities, our air bases, our missile sites, our oil fields and God knows if they’re collecting data and transmitting that. And that is not only a security risk for North Dakota but also for the country.”
The Northern Plains Unmanned Aircraft System Test Site in Grand Forks would oversee the transition and training for the new fleet of drones.
Some members of the committee questioned how much it would cost to replace the current drones. Frank Mattis, director of UAS integration at Thales and newly minted chair of the North Dakota UAS Council, said that it would likely cost more than $10,000 per drone to replace the current DJI drones used by state agencies.
Thales is a company partnered with the state and the Northern Plains UAS Test Site to develop the Vantis system. The system, simply put, is a radar system that tracks and identifies drones, which allows them to operate beyond the line of sight of pilots.
The legislation also calls for $11 million in funding to partner with the Federal Aviation Administration in developing a prototype for a national drone tracking system.
Northern Plains UAS Test Site Deputy Executive Director Erin Roesler said the system covers 3,000 square miles and with the FAA data would cover 56,000 square miles — an expansion that would cost the state $255 million to develop without the FAA’s assistance.
The hope, according to those in support of the bill, is that Vantis with the FAA’s data would become the guideline for a national drone infrastructure system.
According to Mattis, this would be the first time the FAA shared unfiltered radar data with an organization outside of the federal government.