Are there any drones manufactured by UK, US or European companies? I believe DJI is Chinese. Just out of curiosity. Also, is there an equivalent non DJI drone to the Mini 2?
The main competitor to the DJI Mini I guess would be the Autel Nano(+ Pro)
Autel Robotics, operates out of Washington State. They are, technically, an American company, but they are owned by Autel Intelligent Technology in China .
I think you’d be hard pressed to find any consumer electronics device that doesn’t have any Chinese components in it.
2 Likes
There’s Parrot which IIRC are US-based, but also IIRC they only make the ANAFI now which I’ve never been entirely convinced by.
Parrot are a French company.
1 Like
Skydio are an U.S. company, they just released Skydio 2+.
Sadly Parrot dropped out of the consumer market and concentrates on the business drones now.
3 Likes
It strikes me as ridiculous that the UK don’t make any drones! I’d have thought it was a win-win for someone, it’s not like we haven’t the talent and know-how!
1 Like
I came across a company called EXO and their main product is Blackhawk. Now I don’t know how good they are compared to DJI. There is also Skydio. Both made in the USA. Both not represented in the UK for now at least.
Hope this helps.
For EXO read Hubsan, they’re just Hubsan models that EXO have updated the firmware/software to make them more acceptable to consumers. Also made in China not US.
pensive:Thanks @Hotrodspike I knew someone here would have the answer. This is off their website–>
“EXO was founded by Charlie Cannon in early 2020. Working out of his home garage, he shipped the very first drone in June that same year, the X7 Ranger. Even amid the height of the pandemic, EXO quickly became a top-100 fastest growing company in the USA.”
I thought here is a game changer. Well 
Alas the Great Drone Gold Rush has long past us by. After the release of the DJI Phantom One the floodgates opened with a plethora of manufacturers started to appear. The majority of these manufacturers were already manufacturing for the RC Hobby, such as:
Walkera (Chinese company manufacturing Model helicopters).
Blade (Horizon Hobbies, a US Based distributor for eFlite, Parkzone, Spektrum. Blade was their helicopter brand)
Align (Model Helicopters)
Graupner (German Company).
Up until this point 3DRobotics (an American Company) had been manufacturing APM based flight controllers but entered the RTF market with their Pixhawk based Iris.
Then came the flood of Crowd Funding Projects with names such as Hexo-Plus, Air-Hog, Pocket Drone, Zano (a British Company), Lily Drone, to name a few. All failed to provide what they promised, most notably the Zano Drone campaign that became embroiled in some major fraud scandal.
There are many, more examples but which never managed to make it past their initial CES unveiling.
Today you are pretty much left with DJI and Autel, with DJI holding the Lion’s share of the market. Parrot still support the Anafi but on a piece meal basis, their primary market is now Govenment and Military contracts. Skydio have to all intents and purposes disappeared off most peoples radar. The big issue they have is that they are not allowed to export outside of the USA due to ITAR restrictions.
Personally I don’t believe EXO have a hope in Hell’s chance of competing with DJI, or even Autel for that matter. DJI have pretty much saturated the camera drone market and provide drones for just about all price points.
2 Likes
Ken Dobo and EXO CEO discuss this and get gradually pissed, informative!
I don’t believe that has anything to do with it. From their FAQs:
We currently only sell and ship to the US (excluding US territories) and Canada, but hope to expand to other countries soon.
Skydio is working hard to expand into international markets but currently only offers Skydio drones to consumers in the United States and Canada.
However, Skydio drones and our integrated software solutions - Skydio Autonomy Enterprise, 3D Scan, and Cloud are available in Australia and New Zealand for Enterprise and Public Sector customers only. That does not include consumer households.
If you’re an ANZ Enterprise or Public Sector customer, please visit our ANZ-specific Skydio website for more information and links to contact our sales team.
Skydio 2/2+ is not currently certified for use or warrantied for consumer use outside of the US and Canada.
Sounds more like they don’t currently have resources to expand their exports.
Though it doest say it in so many words, Skydio have documented their legal obligations with regards to ITAR as it pertains to US based technology manufacturers.
3DRobotics fell under these same restrictions so to circumvent the restrictions they moved their manufacturing to Mexico.
I’ve experienced the problems of ITAR when I tried to order a quadrafilor antenna from a US based manufacturer, because even though it was manufactured for the amateur radio market the manufacturer also supplied it to the US military.
That doesn’t actually prohibit them from exporting their products. It’s there to cover their asses (note the use of conditionals in the clause) in case someone uses their products for military purposes (as is the case in Ukraine with DJI and other drones). Without that, the company would be found vioating the law and be responsible for consequences in case of customer’s “misuse” of their products.
EDIT: Here’s is a sample clause where ITAR actually restricts some drone product exports:
(1) Export of some Influential Drones LLC products is strictly prohibited without a valid export license issued by the U.S. Department of State, in accordance with International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) (22 C.F.R. 120-130) or a valid export license issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) (15 C.F.R. 730-774).
The problem is that ITAR is so vague that at any time, U.S. Department of State can determine any product to fall under it, therefore companies need these would/ could/ should/ shall clauses in their terms and conditions if they are even vaguely at a risk of being put under the regulations.