Pentagon adds Cirrus Aircraft to list of Chinese military companies

The US Department of Defense has added Cirrus Design Corporation, the Duluth, Minnesota-based aircraft manufacturer that does business as Cirrus Aircraft, to its updated list of “Chinese military companies” operating directly or indirectly in the United States.

The designation appears in the Section 1260H list published on June 8, 2026, under the William M. “Mac” Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. Cirrus is listed under Aviation Industry Corporation of China Ltd. (AVIC), its Chinese state-owned parent company.

The document states that the Deputy Secretary of Defense determined the listed entities qualify as Chinese military companies engaged in commercial activity in the US. It describes AVIC as directly owned and controlled by China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and as a contributor to Beijing’s military-civil fusion strategy.

Why Cirrus is on the list

Cirrus is the largest manufacturer of piston-powered general aviation aircraft in the US, producing the SR20, SR22 and SR22T alongside the single-engine Vision Jet. The company has been owned since 2011 by AVIC subsidiary China Aviation Industry General Aircraft, which paid about $210 million in a deal cleared at the time by the US Treasury committee that reviews foreign investment for national security concerns.

Cirrus listed a minority stake on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2024, with AVIC retaining control. The company reported revenue of around $1.2 billion in 2024. AVIC was already subject to a US investment blacklist introduced in 2021.

The federal designation also follows a state-level dispute involving Cirrus in Utah. In July 2025, Utah Governor Spencer Cox said state officials had blocked an attempted land purchase by Cirrus near Provo Airport, citing the company’s majority ownership by AVIC and a Utah law restricting land acquisitions by certain foreign entities.

Cox’s office said the proposed investment would have been worth millions of dollars and created hundreds of jobs, but argued that AVIC’s status as a Chinese state-owned defense contractor made the transaction a national security concern.

Other AVIC-linked US companies named

Two other US-registered AVIC entities were named alongside Cirrus: engine manufacturer Continental Aerospace Technologies and parts supplier Align Aerospace. The list otherwise groups them with AVIC combat-aircraft subsidiaries including AVIC Chengdu Aircraft, AVIC Shenyang and Hongdu Aviation.

No automatic sanctions, but procurement limits loom

The 1260H list carries no automatic sanctions, but its consequences are widening. Under Section 805 of the Fiscal Year 2024 NDAA, the Department is barred from entering, renewing or extending contracts directly with listed entities from June 30, 2026, with an indirect procurement ban following on June 30, 2027.

The Cirrus listing therefore comes about three weeks before the first prohibition takes effect. A 2025 amendment also allows the Department to list a parent or subsidiary once a related entity qualifies, a mechanism that appears to have drawn the US-incorporated Cirrus onto a roster otherwise dominated by Chinese firms.

The move follows growing congressional scrutiny of Chinese ownership in US general aviation. It also recalls the case of drone maker DJI, which lost a federal court challenge to its own 1260H designation in September 2025 after a judge found the Pentagon had wide authority to decide which companies qualify as military-linked.

Cirrus has previously said it operates independently of its shareholders and complies with US disclosure rules on foreign investment.

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