The FCC's drone ban brands ordinary consumer tech as 'military-grade', and 98.6% of respondents to the proposal reject it — even DJI’s main US-based rival Skydio won’t fully endorse it | Tech Radar

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The FCC's drone ban brands ordinary consumer tech as 'military-grade', and 98.6% of respondents to the proposal reject it — even DJI’s main US-based rival Skydio won’t fully endorse it

It's easy to see why the response to the proposed US ban has been so overwhelmingly negative

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FCC's "military-grade" foreign drone ban definition includes everyday tech like thermal cameras and Li DAR

98.6% of respondent's comments oppose the proposed rule

Even Skydio, a US-based drone maker that stands to benefit, won't fully endorse it

We've reported before on how the US Federal Communications Commission wants to ban the import and sale of certain "military-grade" drones, most of them Chinese, on national security grounds. The public comment period on that proposal has now closed — and the response leaves the FCC looking massively out of touch.

An analysis by Pilot Institute of all 3,824 readable filings in FCC docket 26-189 found that 98.6% of commenters oppose the rule as written. Of those, 77% reject it outright, while another 21% say they support the underlying security goal but think the FCC has drawn the rule badly. A paltry 16 filings, or just 0.4%, backed the proposal as it stands.

When you look at the economic question specifically, the gap is even starker. The FCC's own tentative conclusion was that the financial impact of a ban would be "minor and contained." Of the 1,701 filings that addressed that point directly, 1,686 described severe harm. Only one filing agreed with the Commission.

So what counts as "military-grade" under this proposal? According to the FCC, it's any drone with a thermal camera or Li DAR sensor, or one that can dock itself, spray liquid, carry out swarm maneuvers, or weighs 55lbs or more at take-off. If your drone ticks any of those boxes then, in the FCC's eyes, it's a potential weapon.

This definition is where the rule starts to smell a lot like overreach. Li DAR sensors aren't exotic military hardware in 2026 — they're standard features that drones like DJI's Mini 5 Pro and Air 3S use for obstacle avoidance. These aren't military drones – they're flying cameras ordinary people use to shoot their cousin's wedding, check their roof for damage or locate a missing hiker. Li DAR is so mainstream that it's built into recent i Phones.

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The 55lb, spraying and self-docking criteria are easier to wave away, since few people (outside of agricultural purposes) fly drones that tick those boxes. But the thermal and Li DAR clauses sweep up exactly the kind of consumer and prosumer drones that are widely used for photography, content creation, professional inspection and search and rescue.

That gap between the FCC's stated goals and its extremely wide-ranging definition seems to be what the respondents have picked up on. The opposition here spans public safety agencies, farmers, mapping firms, energy companies and hobbyists, all of whom are essentially telling the Commission the same thing: this rule doesn't properly distinguish between a "surveillance platform" and the little camera drone I use for work or fun.

The Skydio R1 drone – unlikely to be banned under the FCC's proposed rules.

Perhaps the clearest signal that the rule is too restrictive, though, comes from a company with every commercial incentive to cheer it on. Skydio, the US-based drone maker that has lobbied hard for restrictions on its Chinese competitors, didn't file in support of the rule as written. Instead, it asked for a "calibrated" approach with a "reasonable transition period". So, even a company positioned to be one of the biggest winners in the event of a Chinese drone ban still isn't willing to back the FCC's version of it.

Whether this near-unanimous pushback changes the ban's scope remains to be seen. Legal challenges already look likely, with DJI and others arguing that the FCC lacks the statutory authority to impose a blanket, origin-based ban in the first place. But regardless of how this story ends, the comment record makes one thing clear: the government's idea of what constitutes "military-grade" is not shared by the public.

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Sam has been writing about tech and digital culture for over 20 years, starting off in video games journalism before branching out into the wonderful worlds of consumer electronics, streaming entertainment and photography. Over the years he has written for Wired, Stuff, GQ, T3, Trusted Reviews and PC Zone, and now lives on the Kent coast in the UK – the ideal place for a camera reviewer to ply their trade.

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