FCC Partially Walks Back Its Recent Drone and Parts Ban

After substantial outrage from consumers, service providers, and drone builders, the FCC, in its DA 26-22 Public Notice dated January 7, 2026, has partially reversed the blanket ban on foreign-made drone and drone components, as was reported in Electronic Design three weeks ago.

The FCC ban had prohibited all foreign-made drones and foreign-made drone components from importation into the U.S. based upon receiving a National Security Determination on December 21, 2025, from an Executive Branch interagency body, which included several national security agencies. It determined that unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) produced in a foreign country pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the U.S. and to the safety and security of U.S. persons.

That National Security Determination concluded that such UAS and UAS critical components should be included on the FCC’s Covered [ban] List. That was unless the “Department of War” (DoW) [Department of Defense] or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) made a specific determination to the FCC that a given UAS or class of UAS, or a specific UAS critical component, didn’t pose such risks.  

Warring Agencies

The “Department of War” [Department of Defense] subsequently responded to the FCC:

“The DoW [DoD] has determined that UAS and UAS critical components included on Defense Contract Management Agency’s (DCMA’s) Blue UAS list do not currently present unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States or to the safety and security of U.S. persons. This determination includes UAS and UAS critical components included on the Blue UAS list now and until January 1, 2027. Additionally, until January 1, 2027, the DoW [DoD] has determined that UAS and UAS critical components that qualify as ‘domestic end products’ under the Buy American Standard do not pose unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States or to the safety and security of U.S. persons.”

As a result of the determination, the FCC updated its ban to exempt this list of UAS from their Covered List (ban), which strangely includes Swiss-made UAS.

The FCC also updated its ban to exempt this list of UAS critical components.

The Fog of War

Drone motors and batteries apparently aren’t considered critical UAS components (none are listed, so they’re not “critical UAS components by at least “DoW” [DoD] concerns), but gimbals, cameras, data-transmission devices, radios, and flight controllers appear to have that tag. Strangely, GNSS modules are on the Covered List unless expressly listed in the exemption listing.

That said, here’s what the FCC still claims as having scope to regulate in its January 7, 2026, “Fact Sheet”:

Not one single motor or battery was listed by the “Department of War” [DoD] or is included in the critical components exemption list, so does this mean that all foreign-made motors, batteries, and BMS aren’t exempt? They should be — they don’t carry information, they can’t gather information, nor can they be maliciously altered to pose a threat to the U.S. or to the safety and security of U.S. persons. It appears to be overreaching in scope, doesn’t it? By inference, the “Department of War” [DoD] seems to think so.

These are critical components for the operation of a UAS, sure, but they’re not critical components in the context of national security of the United States or safety and security of U.S. persons.

Call of Duty

The FCC needs to step up yet a third time and clarify that batteries and motors do not belong within their scope of regulation. It now appears that “Department of War” [Department of Defense] has to make a determination of a blanket exclusion for motors, batteries, and battery-management systems to explicitly remove these components from overreach.

Without that exclusion, some defense procurement specialists will be really disappointed to get motor-less and battery-less drones delivered as fulfilled contract obligations due to force majeure.

The onus is clearly on the design community, drone builders, and manufacturers to petition the “War”/Defense Department to get their act together and address real threats to the U.S. as well as level the playing field to create free markets for UAS builders, service providers, merchants, and enthusiasts. Power-hungry, expansionist, agency grabs outside their scope and fearmongering will not maintain strength, security, or safety for *everyone*.

That means building out the FCC hardware exemption list to what it should have been: a ban on backdoor-enabled hardware and on software that can sideload malicious foreign applications and spy code. Sounds like it’s time for the government to go with Open Source, doesn’t it?

For the convenience of Electronic Design’s readers (and of lazy influencers and “journalists”), the FCC’s Public Notice and the Fact Sheet are attached here:

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