In a June 6 executive order aimed at \u201cunleashing American drone dominance,\u201d<\/a> Trump ordered that the U.S. must \u201caccelerate the safe commercialization of drone technologies,\u201d intended to scale up the domestic production and expand the export of American-made drones.<\/p>\nThe problem, according to Duesler, is that there\u2019s no real competition to DJI, and the competitors that do exist are more expensive.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a huge drop-off from DJI,\u201d he said. \u201cThe quality of the images, the safety of the drones \u2026 with these other options, it may work, it probably will, but it\u2019s not as reliable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Banning DJI would be devastating, notably for first responders and their publicly funded drone programs, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be a really heavy weight for the municipalities to carry,\u201d Duesler said.<\/p>\n
In Pennsylvania, 28-plus industries now use drones, with uses spanning insurance adjusters, wind turbine and power line inspections, the construction industry, agriculture, delivery services, and even measuring methane emissions from fracking, he said.<\/p>\n
Banning DJI will leave very few alternatives unless a company wants to invest significant money into creating its own drones \u2014 an option he anticipates pursuing for his business.<\/p>\n
\u201cPublic service would be profoundly affected, but your neighbors and your relatives and your friends will be affected because it\u2019s that broad of an impact that it\u2019s going to make,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Local impacts<\/p>\n
If the ban goes into effect, John Lubeck will feel the effects as both a commercial drone pilot and a first responder. Lubeck is a Blakely police officer who founded NEPA Drone in 2016, spending nearly a decade as a commercial pilot and the past four or so years flying drones for local law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n
Lubeck\u2019s latest drone, a DJI Matrice 4T, cost him about $11,000 with extra batteries; an American competitor would be triple that with a $5,000 annual subscription fee, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there was an American-made drone competitive with DJI, trust me, I would have it in my fleet, but there isn\u2019t,\u201d he said, explaining other drone pilots he\u2019s spoken to share the same perspective.<\/p>\n
![\"Johnny](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766188929_760_STT-L-DRONE-12EG-03.jpg\")
Johnny Lubeck, owner of NEPA Drone, controls his DJI Matrice drone in the Blakely Borough Recreational Complex in Peckville Thursday, December 18, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\n
Police departments use drones to find missing people, document crime scenes and just for a better vantage point, especially when using a thermal camera at night, Lubeck said, recalling using a drone with a thermal camera to monitor a possible barricaded suspect to ensure officers weren\u2019t ambushed as they approached the property. When a hiker fell off the \u201cTop of the World\u201d in Dunmore a few months ago, Lubeck found him using a DJI drone\u2019s thermal camera. Pennsylvania State Police also use DJI drones, he said.<\/p>\n
In another instance, in February 2023 when the former Atlantic Veal and Lamb slaughterhouse in Olyphant caught on fire \u2014 later ruled an arson \u2014 Lubeck flew the Olyphant Police Department\u2019s drone to help firefighters look for hot spots.<\/p>\n
While the ban will only apply to new drones, Lubeck worried about the supply of batteries for existing DJI drones. A drone battery is only good for a couple hundred power cycles, he said. His friends and competitors all fly DJI drones, and once that battery supply runs out \u2014 and with no consumer drones at an affordable price point \u2014 a ban will affect all of them, he said.<\/p>\n
Locally, real estate is big for commercial drone pilots, with other work involving building documentation, construction documentation, and some businesses just want videos with aerial perspectives, he said. Lubeck also gets calls almost every other day to help people find their missing pets using his personal drone\u2019s thermal camera. Local media also rely on DJI drones.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this goes through, and the audit is not done by the 23rd, it, absolutely in time, will ground everybody who has a DJI drone,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can only cycle batteries so much. You can only fly so much before something, God forbid, does happen to the drone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Olyphant Police Department spent nearly $20,000 on a DJI Matrice 30T drone with a thermal camera and extra batteries in 2022, Police Chief James DeVoe said. The department also has a smaller training model from DJI.<\/p>\n
The Lackawanna County district attorney\u2019s office gave the department the money for the Matrice 30T from funds seized by Olyphant police in a drug bust, DeVoe said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve used it anywhere from drug busts \u2014 surveillance for our drug busts to make sure everybody is OK \u2014 to finding dogs to finding people,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s limitless, and on top of that, with us, DJI is one of the most reasonable drones out there that does more than some of these $50,000 drones.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olyphant also assists other departments with its drone, including helping Dickson City look for suspects who fled the Viewmont Mall, assisting Dunmore with a search and rescue, and using it to help provide security at different events, DeVoe said.<\/p>\n
In the event of an active shooter, his department could send up its drone and set it to automatically track the gunman, he said.<\/p>\n
If his department is no longer able to buy DJI drones, they won\u2019t be able to afford an American-made brand without the help of grants from the companies, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe couldn\u2019t afford to do them,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re small towns. You\u2019ve got to remember, policing in itself is getting expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last year, the Scranton Fire Department added three DJI Mavic 3T Enterprise drones to its arsenal for about $6,500 per drone, later adding a fourth for its emergency management specialist, Fire Chief John Judge said.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve been a game changer operationally for us at fire scenes,\u201d he said. \u201cBeing able to see on top of the structure and use the thermal imaging capabilities to see exactly what\u2019s going on with the fire inside there has given our incident commanders, essentially, information at their finger tips, useful information, good data.\u201d<\/p>\n
The information from their aerial view with thermal cameras allows the Fire Department\u2019s incident commanders to make strategic, tactical decisions based on a fire\u2019s progression, giving them data to determine whether they should take a more defensive approach to protect firefighters inside burning buildings, Judge said. If there\u2019s a working structure fire, as long as the weather permits, one of the first things a city fire inspector will do is send up a drone, Judge said.<\/p>\n
His department has used them to look for missing people twice because they cover substantially more ground, and\u00a0drones will also allow the department\u2019s emergency management specialist to map out the aftermath of disasters and provide initial damage surveys, Judge said.<\/p>\n
However, he believes losing access to drones will be more impactful to police than firefighting.<\/p>\n
Judge now hopes third-party companies will fill the void of replacement parts for DJI drones if the company is pulled from U.S. shelves.<\/p>\n
Like other first responders, he pointed to DJI\u2019s affordability compared to competitors. His department would\u2019ve been able to buy one drone for the price of its four DJIs, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just can\u2019t justify those types of costs,\u201d Judge said. \u201cThe $30,000 option is not a feasible option right now. I mean, that\u2019s not much less than what I\u2019m paying for a pickup truck.\u201d<\/p>\n
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![\"Johnny](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766188928_150_STT-L-DRONE-12EG-02.jpg\")
Johnny Lubeck, owner of NEPA Drone, hovers his DJI Matrice drone in the Blakely Borough Recreational Complex in Peckville Thursday, December 18, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)