Drone regulation
Are foreign drones banned in the US?
New foreign models are blocked. Drones you already own are not. On 22 December 2025 the FCC added uncrewed aircraft systems and their critical components produced in foreign countries to its Covered List, as a whole product category rather than a list of named companies. Foreign-produced models are generally ineligible for the new authorization needed to sell them in the United States, attributed to the FCC.
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New ones largely are, and the drone in your bag is not. Those two facts get collapsed constantly, so it is worth separating them.
On 22 December 2025 the FCC added uncrewed aircraft systems and UAS critical components produced in foreign countries to its Covered List. What makes this action unusual is that it is categorical: rather than naming DJI and Autel, it lists a whole product type, so it reaches foreign-produced aircraft generally. Foreign-produced systems and components are, in the Commission's framing, generally ineligible for the new FCC authorization required to import and sell them.
Three limits matter and are easy to miss. It does not stop the sale of models that already hold FCC approval, and it does not touch drones already owned. It does reach existing models in one narrow way: a foreign-produced aircraft already on the market becomes ineligible for the amended authorization it would need for a modification. And there are exits, both used already: the Departments of War or Homeland Security can determine that an aircraft or a class of them does not pose an unacceptable risk, and in January 2026 certain categories were temporarily exempted until 1 January 2027.
DEPLOY does not determine whether any particular aircraft is covered or authorized. What it holds is where each maker is based, verified on the record, and that is what the tables below show.
Where these drones are actually from
Because this action is written against foreign production rather than against named companies, the line that matters is domestic versus foreign, not one country versus the rest.
- On the record
- 115
- Foreign-made
- 57
- US-made
- 58
- Makers
- 85
What the action does, and what it does not
Each column is attributed to who states it. The third is the limit of what DEPLOY can answer at all.
A whole product category, not a company list
On 22 December 2025 the Commission added uncrewed aircraft systems and UAS critical components produced in foreign countries to the Covered List. It is a categorical product-type listing rather than named entities, which is why it reaches foreign-produced aircraft generally and not only the two makers most reported on.
Existing drones stay legal, with one catch
It does not make owned drones illegal, and models already holding FCC approval can still be sold. The catch is narrower and slower: a foreign-produced aircraft already on the market becomes ineligible for the amended authorization it would need after a modification. There are also exits, and both have been used.
Provenance, not coverage or authorization
DEPLOY holds verified maker nationality, read live from each reviewed company record. It does not determine whether a specific aircraft falls inside the FCC's definition of an uncrewed aircraft system, nor whether any model is authorized. Appearing in a table below is a statement about where a maker is based, nothing more.
Made in the United States
The action is written against foreign-produced systems, so a US-headquartered maker sits outside that description by definition. That is not the same as a finding that any particular model here is authorized.
US-headquartered makers
| Drone | Maker | Headquarters | Stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| AEVEX Strike Drone | AEVEX Aerospace | Solana Beach, CA, USA | PilotVerified maker HQ |
| ALIA-250 | Beta Technologies | Burlington, VT, USA | On recordVerified maker HQ |
| AeroVironment P550 | AeroVironment | Arlington, Virginia, USA | CommercialVerified maker HQ |
Made in China
The largest single bloc of foreign-produced drones on the record, and the one most of the coverage is about. It is a subset of the foreign-produced category the listing names, not the category itself.
China-headquartered makers
| Drone | Maker | Headquarters | Stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Autel Alpha | Autel Robotics | Shenzhen, China | ProductionVerified maker HQ |
| Autel Dragonfish | Autel Robotics | Shenzhen, China | ProductionVerified maker HQ |
| Autel EVO Lite+ | Autel Robotics | Shenzhen, China | CommercialVerified maker HQ |
Made elsewhere, and still foreign-produced
This is the group most reporting misses. A drone built in Germany, Israel, Japan or Estonia is foreign-produced too, so a listing written against foreign production reaches it as well. Treating these as automatically outside the action would be a claim DEPLOY cannot support.
Makers headquartered outside China and the US
| Drone | Maker | Headquarters | Stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| A200-XT | Asteria Aerospace | Bengaluru, India | Research and developmentVerified maker HQ |
| AIR ONE | AIR | Kfar Yona, Israel | ProductionVerified maker HQ |
| AirForestry Harvesting System | AirForestry | Uppsala, Sweden | Research and developmentVerified maker HQ |
How we know this
The scope and limits of the FCC action on this page are attributed to the Commission's own public notice, with a legal-press reading of the listing alongside it. Every maker nationality is read live from that company's reviewed record on the DEPLOY registry rather than from the press. Here are the sources behind the action itself.
DEPLOY reports maker provenance, which it can verify, and attributes the action's scope to the FCC, which it cannot. Whether a given aircraft is an uncrewed aircraft system within the Commission's meaning, and whether it is authorized, are legal determinations this page does not make.
Common questions
Is my drone illegal now?
What exactly did the FCC do?
Can a foreign drone maker still get approved?
Does it affect drones already on sale?
Which drones are American made?
Can you still buy a DJI drone?
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