Latest FCC, DOJ, DHS Actions on Drones Indicate an Increased Focus on National Security

July 2026 has been one of the most active months yet for regulatory actions affecting the unmanned aircraft system (UAS) marketplace – and the clear theme has been national security.

Agencies accelerated efforts to enable broader counter UAS (C-UAS) operations to mitigate threats from unauthorized or hostile UAS. The U.S. Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security (DHS) issued an interim final rule on July 1 and 2, 2026, addressing key SAFER SKIES Act¹ implementation details such as training and certification requirements, authorized technologies, spectrum coordination, airspace approval, air traffic control and more. Comments on the interim final rule are due by September 4, 2026. Contemporaneously, the FCC released four decisions to expedite counter-drone deployments by clarifying the anti-interference provisions in Section 333 of the Communications Act, providing blanket temporary spectrum authority, waiving equipment authorization requirements and facilitating experimental testing.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) also moved to expand and strengthen marketplace prohibitions against foreign-produced UAS and UAS critical components. It proposed to prohibit the continued importation and sale of already authorized equipment, including some drones and UAS critical components, with comments due 30 days after Federal Register publication. It in fact prohibited the continued importation and sale of other covered equipment and proposed penalties in Covered List enforcement actions. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr also circulated a draft order and further notice of proposed rulemaking that, if adopted, would strengthen Covered List prohibitions by closing a perceived loophole involving the use of component parts produced by Covered List entities, among other actions, and would seek comment on UAS-related and other definitions on the Covered List. Some version of the draft will likely be adopted at the FCC's July 22, 2026, Open Meeting. Comments would be due 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, with reply comments due 45 days after publication.

Taken together, the actions signify considerable expansions of counter-drone authority for state, local, Tribal and territorial (SLTT) law enforcement or correctional agencies and unrelenting focus on limiting the importation, marketing or use of foreign-produced drones based on national security risks.

Implementation of SAFER SKIES Act

DOJ, DHS

DOJ and DHS issued a July 1, 2026, interim final rule focused on national security measures for drones. The interim final rule, which took effect July 1 but is open for public comment until September 4, 2026, sets forth a framework for implementing the SAFER SKIES Act. As described in a recent Holland & Knight alert, the SAFER SKIES Act authorizes SLTT law enforcement or correctional agencies to conduct counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) operations. The act expanded counter-UAS authority beyond certain federal agencies by allowing trained SLTT law enforcement and correctional agencies to detect, track, disable or seize drones that pose a credible threat to public safety facilities, critical infrastructure, correctional facilities or major public events. This authority to take such action, however, depended on implementing regulations that establishes how agencies would be eligible to exercise such authority, the types of solutions SLTT agencies could use and how they could conduct such operations.

The interim final rule's framework is generally consistent with statements that leadership of the DOJ and DHS made in a U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing in July 2025.² The interim rule is also largely based on fulfilling President Donald Trump's mandate in Executive Order 14305, "Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty," which stated the policy of the U.S. is to ensure control over the national airspace and protect the public, critical infrastructure, mass gathering events, and military and sensitive government installations and operations from threats posed by the careless or unlawful use of drones.

The interim rule sets forth training and certification standards in a two-tiered structure for detection and warning operations and for mitigation operations. The rule establishes the Authorized Technologies List, which identifies approved categories of counter-drone technologies, and the Authorized Systems List, which identifies specific approved systems by make and model. Operations under the interim final rule would also be subject to two certification categories (the Detection and Warning Certification and Mitigation Certification) and establishes data categories subject to regulation: control communications, raw sensor data and pattern data.

FCC

In tandem with the issuance of the DOJ-DHS interim final rule, the FCC's four coordinated decisions are designed to remove barriers to SAFER SKIES Act implementation.³ With one decision, the agency granted a 180-day blanket Special Temporary Authority (STA) to allow eligible SLTT agencies operating under SAFER SKIES to use certain approved counter-drone systems while the agency develops permanent authorization mechanisms.

In a separate order, the agency waived equipment authorization requirements that would otherwise prevent the importation or marketing of counter-drone systems before receiving typical equipment authorization from the agency. This waiver will apply only to systems on the Authorized Systems List, and use of such counter-drone systems would be available only for SLTT agencies in accordance with the SAFER SKIES Act.

The FCC also addressed a principal statutory prohibition that applies to counter-drone technological measures in a separate declaratory ruling.⁴ There, the FCC concluded that Section 333 of the Communications Act, which prohibits willful or malicious interference with authorized radio communications, does not apply to the federal government itself.⁵ The FCC further clarified that nonfederal entities acting on behalf of or subject to specific oversight of the U.S. government might be immune from Section 333 when conducting authorized counter-drone operations. A further ruling clarifies that parties operating a counter-drone system with an existing FCC equipment authorization may test signal-jamming technologies under certain conditions without violating Section 333. For such operations, which consist only of testing, the operator must control both the jamming equipment and drone communications involved in the testing.

The interim final rule also addresses airspace approval, real-time air traffic notification, mitigation reporting, privacy protections and compliance requirements, such as submission of plans and other information in a federal coordination portal. SLTT agencies would be well advised to become familiar with the requirements that apply to their intended uses of counter-drone systems and begin drafting and submitting plans in accordance with the interim final rule.

FCC Covered List

As described in previous Holland & Knight alerts,⁶ the FCC added all foreign-produced drones and critical components to its Covered List on December 22, 2025. As a result, such foreign-produced drones and components are not eligible for equipment authorizations, unless an exception from the prohibition applies. The FCC recently issued a temporary exception for toy drones produced in China meeting certain strict criteria. Drones that have received conditional approval from the FCC, are included on the Blue UAS Cleared List or meet the Buy American standard are also temporarily exempt from the prohibition.

The FCC took numerous actions this month to advance and expand the scope of these prohibitions.

On July 17, 2026, the FCC issued a Public Notice proposing to prohibit the continued importation and marketing of certain previously authorized covered equipment, including "foreign-produced UAS and UAS critical components and white-labeled devices listed in section 1709 of the FY2025 NDAA" – National Defense Authorization Act – produced by certain named entities⁷ As explained in a previous Holland & Knight alert, Section 1709 of the fiscal year (FY) 2025 NDAA required national security determinations and corresponding FCC entries on the Covered List with respect to companies named in the law and their subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, joint ventures and any entity to which they have a technology sharing or licensing agreement. Notably, the FCC states that the listed equipment includes "exact hardware copies" of previously prohibited equipment and reiterates that equipment relying on substantial design, manufacture, assembly or development by entities listed in Section 1709 are "produced by" such entities and therefore subject to the Covered List restriction. Comments on the proposal are due 30 days after Federal Register publication.

That proposal comes on the heels of another FCC action prohibiting continued importation and marketing of previously authorized equipment that the agency added to the Covered List on December 31, 2024, or earlier, which took effect July 16, 2026.⁸ Though UAS location-based entries postdate the 2024 cutoff, the revised policy could potentially affect drones and UAS payloads that fall under the entity-based entries added prior to 2025.⁹

The FCC is also poised to substantially expand its Covered List framework and seek comment on even broader expansions at an Open Meeting scheduled July 22, 2026. At the meeting, the FCC will consider a draft order and further notice of proposed rulemaking that, among other things, would:

• prohibit devices incorporating logic-bearing hardware components produced by entities on the Covered List, thereby closing a perceived loophole allowing the sale of Covered List entity-produced component parts in devices including drones¹⁰
• clarify that FCC marketing rules apply to online marketplaces that list, distribute or offer unauthorized equipment and require those marketplaces to display the FCC identification number at the online point of sale – even to the extent the items are sold by third parties
• further restrict modifications by clarifying that previously authorized equipment may not be modified so as to become covered equipment and that the FCC will interpret the phrase "produced by" based on "the totality of the circumstances" for the purpose of determining compliance with that rule
• require full recertification for any modification or permissive change made by a Covered List entity and bar such entities from using the Supplier's Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) self-attestation process for any modification

The accompanying further notice of proposed rulemaking would propose or seek comment on additional reforms, including:

• expanding the prohibition against incorporating entity-produced components to also prohibit the incorporation of components covered under a location-based designation on the Covered List (such as the designation for foreign-produced UAS and UAS critical components)
• bifurcating the Covered List into producer/provider-based and production location-based categories, enhancing supply-chain transparency through hardware and software bills of materials, and strengthening enforcement through streamlined revocation procedures, term limits on authorizations and registration of SDoC-authorized devices
• codifying waivers allowing certain software and firmware updates for covered equipment with existing equipment authorizations
• codifying key definitions – including "UAS critical components" and "produced in a foreign country" – to clarify the scope of corresponding Covered List entries

Notably, the FCC also has been advancing Covered List enforcement investigations. On July 10, 2026, the FCC proposed fines totaling roughly $200,000 against eight companies, including companies selling alleged rebrands of certain drones, for failing to respond to investigative requests regarding equipment on the FCC Covered List. The proposed penalties represent a continued push by the FCC to enforce national security regulations – and address efforts to evade them through rebrands, fronts and white-labeling.

Key Takeaways

These actions show a clear, highly dynamic and governmentwide focus on mitigating security concerns associated with UAS technologies. Stakeholders should carefully review the DOJ and DHS interim final rule on C-UAS, engage as needed prior to the comment deadline and monitor the docket and for further releases. They also should monitor updates concerning changes to the draft FCC order after its anticipated adoption on July 22, 2026, and implementation details affecting the proposed prohibition on previously authorized covered equipment. Interested parties should watch these proceedings closely and consider submitting comments once the comment periods open.

Notes

¹ FY 2026 NDAA, Pub. L. 119-60 Sections 8601-8607, 139 Stat. 1938-1946 (Dec. 18, 2025).

² U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Securing the Skies: Law Enforcement, Drones, and National Security (July 22, 2025) (testimony of Steven Willoughby, DHS Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program Management Office Director, stating that DHS was "finding innovative ways to partner with the Department of Defense, other Federal partners, and State, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement entities" in furtherance of counter-drone operations).

³ FCC, FCC Supports SLTT Drone Efforts (last visited July 2, 2026) (providing links to all four documents, listed as Declaratory Ruling – Self Jamming; Declaratory Ruling – SLTTs, Global STA and EA Waiver).

⁴ Application of Section 333 of the Communications Act to the Testing of Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Technologies, Declaratory Ruling, DA 26-654 (rel. July 2, 2026).

⁵ 47 U.S.C. Section 333 (stating that "[n]o person shall willfully or maliciously interfere with or cause interference to any radio communications of any station licensed or authorized by or under this chapter or operated by the United States Government.").

⁶ "Citing National Security Needs, the FCC and FAA Take Steps on UAS Regulation" (May 12, 2026); "Unleashing Drone Dominance: The FCC Perspective and Request for Comments" (April 3, 2026); "FCC Exempts Certain Drones from Covered List" (Jan. 13, 2026); "FCC Adds All Foreign-Made Drones and Critical Components to the Covered List" (Dec. 23, 2025).

⁷FCC, "Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology Seek Comment on Prohibiting the Importation and Marketing of Certain Covered UAS and UAS Critical Components and Equipment Listed in Section 1709 of the FY2025 NDAA," Public Notice, DA 26-742 (rel. July 17, 2026).

⁸ FCC, "Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology Seek Comment on Prohibiting the Importation and Marketing of Previously Authorized Covered Communications Equipment Added to the Covered List in 2024 or Earlier," Public Notice, DA 26-635 (rel. June 26, 2026).

⁹ 91 Fed. Reg. 41023 (July 6, 2026).

¹⁰ FCC, "Strengthening Rules Governing Dangerous Gear" (July 1, 2026). The proposed order that the notice discusses is under review by the commissioners and will be considered at their July 22, 2026, meeting.

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.