FCC Exempts Certain Drones from Covered List

The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) maintains a list of equipment and services (Covered List) that have been determined to "pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons."

As discussed in a recent Holland & Knight alert, the FCC issued a Public Notice on December 22, 2025, to announce the addition of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS or drones) and UAS critical components produced in foreign countries to the FCC Covered List. The notice was an immediate response to a National Security Determination (NSD) that the FCC received on December 21, 2025, finding that all UAS and UAS critical components produced in a foreign country pose any national security risk, unless otherwise determined by the U.S. Department of War (DOW) or U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Most radio frequency devices generally require FCC equipment authorization prior to importation, marketing or sale in the U.S. Devices or equipment listed on the FCC Covered List are prohibited from receiving new equipment authorizations. Accordingly, inclusion on the FCC Covered List generally precludes most radio frequency devices, including wireless transmitters, that do not already have equipment authorizations from entering the U.S. market.

FCC's Revised Public Notice

On January 7, 2026, the FCC released a new Public Notice with a further NSD from the DOW with additional specific determinations regarding certain UAS and UAS critical components. The DOW concluded the following equipment does not pose an unacceptable risk to national security and therefore should be removed from the FCC's Covered List:

• UAS and UAS critical components included on the Defense Contract Management Agency's (DCMA) Blue UAS Cleared List (until January 1, 2027)
• UAS and UAS critical components that qualify as "domestic end products" under the Buy American Standard (until January 1, 2027)

Verifying that UAS or UAS critical components are eligible for either of the exclusions will require detailed review of records and an understanding of the standard and criteria that apply.

Blue UAS Cleared List

UAS and UAS critical components included on the DCMA Blue UAS Cleared List are subject to rigorous review and oversight of the DCMA.¹ Designed to ensure UAS and UAS critical components are appropriate for DOW use, companies that seek to have UAS and UAS critical components included on the Blue UAS Cleared List undergo rigorous cyber and hardware assessments to ensure their technology complies with hardware, software, supply chain and data privacy standards. Specifically, the DOW's Blue UAS initiative assesses UAS and UAS components to ensure compliance with:

• Fiscal year (FY) 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and the American Security Drone Act. As described in Section III of the memorandum, UAS must not be produced by any entity named on the Federal Acquisition Security Council (FASC) list. In addition, UAS must not be produced by a covered foreign entity.
• Section 817 of the James M. Inhofe NDAA for FY 2023. This statute prohibits the DOW from entering into a contract or extending or renewing an existing contract with an entity that operates equipment from a covered UAS company. Covered companies include those listed on the Consolidated Screening List maintained by the U.S. Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration and any entity that is domiciled in a covered foreign country or subject to foreign ownership, control or influence of a covered foreign country.
• Section 848 of NDAA for FY 2020, for which Section 817 of the 2023 NDAA, discussed above, has since been modified. Section 848 prohibits the DOW secretary from operating or entering into or renewing a new contract for procurement of a covered UAS that is manufactured in a covered foreign country or by an entity domiciled in a covered foreign country, among other prohibitions. The statute also prohibits contracts for UAS that use flight controllers, radios, data transmission devices, cameras or gimbals manufactured in a covered foreign country. Similar criteria apply for network connectivity or data storage located in a covered foreign country and ground control systems or operating software developed in a covered foreign country.

Stakeholders that seek inclusion on the Blue UAS Cleared List should become familiar with the above-described standards, as well as the procedural aspects of seeking inclusion on the list. The current process for seeking inclusion consists of evaluation by a Recognized Assessor, which is an entity designed by the DOW that determines compliance; currently, the DOW has named six such entities.² Recognized Assessors evaluate information an applicant submits via the Blue List Portal and undertake a comprehensive review of each application.

Buy American Standard

UAS or UAS critical components that fulfill Buy American Standard criteria are also no longer listed on the FCC Covered List. For the Buy American Standard to apply, the article must be manufactured in the U.S. and, for end products that are not wholly or predominantly iron or steel or a combination of both, the cost of domestic components delivered in calendar years 2024 to 2028 must exceed 65 percent of the cost of all the components.³ Furthermore, stakeholders who seek to take advantage of the exclusion from the FCC Covered List by using this Buy American Standard should plan for the domestic content requirement for UAS and UAS critical components to continue to increase in the following years.

Legal Effects and Rationale for Exclusions and Conditional Approvals

Unless a UAS can fulfill either of the two exceptions from the FCC Covered List described above, new, foreign-made UAS and UAS critical components will not receive new FCC equipment authorizations, which are often required for new product launches and might be required when certain changes to equipment occur.

It is evident that the Trump Administration's goal is to incentivize the onshoring of the drone supply chain, as also highlighted in the White House's executive order, "Unleashing American Drone Dominance," on June 6, 2025. This sentiment is also consistent with the July 10, 2025, presidential memorandum, "Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance," which states the government seeks to "bolster the nascent U.S. drone manufacturing base by approving hundreds of American products for purchase by our military," for which its "overt preference is to Buy American." Given the broad scope of the original restriction in the December 22, 2025, Public Notice, which included all UAS and UAS critical components produced in foreign countries, and the effect of that inclusion on new device models, the FCC and national security agencies likely received heavy pushback from the domestic drone industry.

The January 7, 2026, Public Notice was accompanied by guidance that established a process for companies to submit requests for exemption and receive a "Conditional Approval" for their UAS or critical component, notwithstanding its inclusion on the Covered List. DOW or DHS will evaluate individual requests for specific determinations that certain UAS or UAS critical components do not pose "unacceptable risks." A Conditional Approval expires one year from the date that is granted. Requests for Conditional Approval must include information on corporate structure, manufacturing and supply chain disclosure, and a U.S. manufacturing and onshoring plan and should be submitted via email. The Trump Administration will expect to see a clear plan to onshore drone and drone critical component manufacturing in a Conditional Approval application and demonstrated progress on that plan for a Conditional Approval to be extended beyond its one-year duration.

Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Neither the FCC's December 22, 2025, Public Notice nor its January 7, 2026, Public Notice prohibit the import, sale or use of any drone or drone critical component subject to a previous FCC equipment authorization. However, new foreign-made drones or communications and video surveillance equipment and services listed in Section 1709(a)(1) of the FY 2025 NDAA are prohibited from receiving new FCC equipment authorizations unless they fit into the exclusions in the January 7 Public Notice or seek a Conditional Approval. In addition, the FCC may consider even a relatively minor change to an existing FCC equipment authorization as a new equipment authorization impacting design structural changes to existing drones and drone critical components. These new exclusions apply to UAS and UAS critical components included on DCMA Blue UAS Cleared List or UAS and UAS critical components that qualify as "domestic end products" under the Buy American Standard, and this exclusion exists only until January 1, 2027, unless extended by the administration.

Notes

¹ As of January 1, 2026, the DCMA is responsible for publishing and maintaining the Blue UAS Cleared list, including the list of compliant UAS components and software. DCMAs Blue List scales innovation, warfighter lethality (September 17, 2025) (stating, "the Blue UAS effort, started by the Defense Innovation Unit in 2020, is a holistic and continuous approach to rapidly vet commercial UAS technology for DOW" and describing the transition of responsibility for maintaining the list to the DCMA from the Defense Innovation Unit in accordance with direction referenced in the DOW secretary's July 10, 2025, memorandum, "Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance").

² The entities that function as Recognized Assessors are listed in the Recognized Assessors tab on DCMA's Blue UAS Portal page. Title 10 U.S.C. § 4127(e) directs the director of Defense Innovation Unit to use a multi-stakeholder partnership model in addressing research and innovation needs; the DCMA cites this statute as a basis for its use of services of Recognized Assessors.

³ 48 CFR § 25.101(a).

Information contained in this alert is for the general education and knowledge of our readers. It is not designed to be, and should not be used as, the sole source of information when analyzing and resolving a legal problem, and it should not be substituted for legal advice, which relies on a specific factual analysis. Moreover, the laws of each jurisdiction are different and are constantly changing. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. If you have specific questions regarding a particular fact situation, we urge you to consult the authors of this publication, your Holland & Knight representative or other competent legal counsel.