The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said on Wednesday that it has updated its Covered List to exempt four uncrewed aircraft systems and related components. This announcement follows a blanket decision late last year that added foreign-produced drones and critical components to the list, which serves as a roster of communications equipment deemed to pose risks to U.S. national security. Placement on the list prevents FCC authorization required for import, marketing or sale in the U.S.
The new exemptions mark the first use of a “conditional approval” process established earlier this year. The exempted systems include the SiFly Aviation Q12, Mobilicom SkyHopper series, ScoutDI Scout 137 and Verge X1, with approvals set to remain in effect through Dec. 31, 2026, unless extended or revised by regulators.
The update builds on a broader January FCC decision that created temporary exemptions for several defined categories of equipment. In that action, the FCC allowed certain categorical exceptions, which included systems found on the Pentagon’s Blue UAS Cleared List, as well as products that meet federal Buy American standards. Those exemptions apply through Jan. 1, 2027.
Unlike that January action, which applied broadly to categories of drone equipment, Wednesday’s update is the first to grant exemptions to specific drone models on a case-by-case basis. The models were found by the Pentagon not to pose national security risks.
FCC Chair Brendan Carr told Reuters the agency is “trying to strike a balance here of national security and mitigating those risks,” adding that “we think the current approach strikes the right balance between national security and not needlessly disrupting consumer use.”
Under the current framework, other foreign manufacturers may be able to gain similar conditional approvals by submitting information to the FCC for review by national security agencies.
