A recent article in The New York Times reports on Michigan’s effort to pivot Detroit’s manufacturing legacy into the would-be fast growing U.S. drone industry. The piece follows Birdstop, a drone startup that moved into the former United Auto Workers training facility and examines how incentives, auto suppliers, and local investors are trying to make Michigan a national hub for drone manufacturing. It’s not easy.

Mr. Miao was intrigued by the possibility of moving to Detroit, but wanted to see if he would be able to procure the components he needed to build drones locally.

“If you are DJI and you are in Shenzhen, you walk downstairs and have 150 options for every single component,” he said. “In the United States, you walk downstairs and there are quite literally zero to one options.”

He sent his vice president of engineering, Jatin Kolekar, to scout auto suppliers to see if they might be able to make the components that Birdstop needed. Mr. Kolekar determined that backup cameras for cars and small electric motors and batteries for systems like windshield wipers could be repurposed for the drone industry.

Import restrictions may give them a leg up.

Recent federal restrictions on new models from DJI, the Chinese company that makes at least 80 percent of the hobbyist and commercial drones that Americans fly, have created an opening for domestic manufacturers.

The ambition is here, but this is still in an early phase. For now, read the full article in here.