Chinese drone maker DJI gets another shot at Pentagon blacklist removal

On Friday, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted a reprieve to Chinese drone manufacturer DJI, allowing the company to challenge its inclusion on the Pentagon's blacklist of entities allegedly linked to the Chinese military. DJI, based in Shenzhen, has been embroiled in a protracted legal dispute with the US Department of Defence over its designation.

While the appellate court did not remove DJI from the list, it sent the case back to the lower court to reassess a specific aspect of the Pentagon's justification for the designation. The Pentagon, which has declined to comment on the ongoing litigation, did not respond to a request for comment from a reporter. DJI has consistently maintained that it has no ties to the Chinese military.

First listed on the Pentagon's Chinese military company list in 2022, DJI petitioned for and later sued to be delisted. A lower court sided with the Pentagon in 2025, leading to the company's appeal, which culminated in Friday's ruling. Judge Bradley N. Garcia wrote the opinion for the three-judge panel, rejecting three of DJI's four arguments, including claims that the Pentagon violated its due process rights, that insufficient evidence existed to establish DJI's alleged assistance from the Chinese government, and that the Pentagon failed to explain why it treated DJI differently from similar companies.

However, the court agreed with DJI on one critical point: the District Court improperly upheld the Pentagon's assertion that DJI contributes to China's defense industrial base without fully examining the classified record. The appellate court stated that the District Court relied on arguments made by government lawyers and evidence in the public record, without sufficient rationale from the Pentagon itself.

Garcia wrote that the District Court's analysis cannot stand without a publicly stated rationale for why the Secretary believes DJI contributes to China's defense industrial base. The court thus sent the issue back to the District Court, which may now examine the classified record and determine whether to uphold the Pentagon's determination that DJI contributes to China's defense industrial base.

China's growing dominance in the drone market has fueled geopolitical tensions, with Beijing investing heavily in its drone industry. DJI alone accounted for 83.48 percent of all drones detected in 2025, according to counter-drone detection firm Dedrone. US policymakers have increasingly viewed drones as critical military infrastructure, leading to the Trump administration's executive order, "Unleashing American Drone Dominance" in June 2025.

DJI is among several Chinese companies challenging their placement on the Pentagon's blacklist, with a recent federal judge granting a preliminary injunction barring the Pentagon from listing Chinese biotech company WuXi AppTec. Other companies, including e-commerce giant Alibaba, have also sued to have their inclusion on the list overturned.