Washington seeks to break Chinese drone dominance in global markets

The Wall Street Journal reported that the United States is intensifying its efforts to break Chinese dominance over the drone market, given the growing role of this technology in conflicts from Ukraine to the Middle East.

It also pointed out that an analysis of "quadcopter" combat drones shot down in Ukraine revealed widespread reliance on Chinese components, including motors, batteries, and electronic processors. According to the Ukrainian "Bulava" unit, these drones cannot be manufactured or operated without supply chains coming from China, which reflects Chinese influence in this sector.

Features of Chinese Drones Chinese drones stand out, especially those produced by companies like "DJI," with advanced technical capabilities in terms of lightweight design and maneuverability speed, in addition to flexible communication systems that are difficult to jam.

Chinese dominance also extends to raw materials, as it controls a large part of the rare metals and chemicals used in the manufacture of "lithium polymer" batteries, which gives it a competitive advantage that is difficult to overcome.

Military analysts believe that this control is not limited to manufacturing but includes the entire production system, which places countries like Russia, Iran, and Ukraine in a state of continuous technological dependence on Chinese supplies.

In an attempt to bridge this gap, US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, launched an ambitious program called "Drone Sovereignty," with a budget exceeding 1 billion dollars, with the aim of incentivizing American factories to bridge the production gap.

This project aims to reduce the cost of an American drone from 15,000 dollars to only about 2,300 dollars, to enable it to compete with Chinese versions sold at a fraction of this price. However, the report indicates that the biggest challenge lies in China's dominance of about 80% of the global commercial market, which gives it the ability to reduce costs and accelerate production at a pace that competitors find difficult to match.

In this regard, the US administration is injecting billions of dollars in investments to support local companies extracting critical minerals, in an attempt to break China's monopoly on raw materials used in motor manufacturing.

American defense companies profit 400 billion dollars due to wars - 24.ae With the recent escalation of geopolitical tensions, American defense industry companies have emerged as beneficiaries of the war on Iran, recording a remarkable increase in revenues and military orders in recent months.

However, industry experts warn that building an integrated infrastructure that matches the Chinese giant could take a decade, leaving a significant security gap in the US defense strategy.

In the same context, the Federal Communications Commission imposed a ban on foreign-made drones for security reasons, seeking to open the way for national companies like "SkyDio" to expand away from Chinese competition.

But this decision faced sharp criticism, as some believe that isolating American companies from low-cost suppliers in Taiwan and Ukraine could cause American drones to lose their competitiveness in global markets outside the military framework.

According to "The Wall Street Journal," American startups face a severe shortage of chips dedicated to control systems, with increasing demand for limited stocks, which raises production costs and delays the delivery of contracted orders.

Investor concerns are also rising about the potential decline in military demand after the program ends in 2027, which could expose companies that expanded to meet the needs of the US Department of Defense to financial pressures, and perhaps to the risk of contraction or exiting the market.