SerpApi.Org
The Federal Communications Commission announced on Tuesday a review on a possible ban on imports of foreign-made military-grade drones.
Specifically, the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) and the Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) issued a public notice looking for public input on whether to prohibit the importation, marketing, and sales of certain foreign-produced military-grade drones on the Covered List, which is a roster of foreign-made equipment that the FCC has deemed poses risks to national security. Public comments are due within thirty days after the notice's publication in the Federal Register.
"Given that these devices have been found to pose unacceptable national security risks, the FCC tentatively concluded there were strong national security reasons to do so," the notice said.
The categories of drones that could be deemed of posing national security risks and meet the qualifications include swarming drones; drones specially designed to integrate defense articles; thermal imaging drones; drones that weigh 55 pounds or more; drone docking stations; aerosol drones capable of dispensing "economic poison" under FAA rules; and drones integrating light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensing.
A prohibition proclamation would exclude government-purchased drones that otherwise meet the criteria; drones and critical components that are not on the Covered List, either from exemption or because they were produced domestically; drones or components imported by the government for commercial testing and product development.
In December, the FCC barred all new models of foreign drones from imports, but then it initiated a series of exemptions for some drones and components not produced in China. The exemptions were set to end on January 1, 2027, but the FCC announced a one-year extension on Tuesday as well. The PSHSB also eliminated the termination date for foreign-produced drones and critical components that had been granted conditional approvals.
The FCC said they have tracked more than $4 billion to U.S.-based drone and related production companies and thousands of jobs since last December.
DJI and Autel Robotics, two Chinese drone manufacturing companies, account for an overwhelming share of the U.S. drone market, which have raised national security concerns for years.
Drones also have several non-military applications, including for law enforcement, first responders, and in agriculture, in addition to civilians' personal use of drones for pleasure. The Trump administration wants to see the U.S. drone industrial base increase exponentially, both in terms of producing one-way attack drones and counter-drone technology.
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Broadly, drones are often much cheaper than other, more expensive weapons that the U.S. military has previously relied on, like fighter aircraft or air defense systems designed to intercept much larger and faster incoming projectiles. The cheap nature of drones and the rapid evolutionary cycle have changed the way wars have been fought in both Iran and Ukraine in recent years.
The threat of drone swarms, in which several are intending to strike the same target to ensure a higher likelihood of making it past an adversary's air defenses, is a very real threat and that's why the FCC could ban the sale and import of military-grade drones including those that have such capabilities.
