Executive orders welcomed by drone industry, but do they go far enough?

“If I wrote a wish list, this order ticks off every item I’d have on there.” This is how one drone operator described the Executive Orders (EO) published on June 6th. 

Entitled Unleashing American Drone Dominance, the EOs focus largely on two areas: addressing airspace regulation and boosting domestic production.

They set out requirements to be delivered between 30 days and three years after the date of issue aimed at speeding up drone integration into the US National Airspace System (NAS), streamlining regulatory processes through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and supporting the domestic drone industry, whilst boosting US drone exports.

Requirements include a proposed beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) rule for drone operations to be published in July with a final rule to be confirmed in February 2026. Also in July, the Federal Acquisition Security Council is set to publish a list of foreign entities posing supply chain risks. In three months’ time the Department of Defense (DoD) is set to expand the Defense Innovation Unit’s (DIU) Blue UAS List to include compliant US drones. The Blue UAS programme was launched in 2020 to promote US drones and counter reliance on foreign manufacturers. Also, in just under four months’ time the FAA has been tasked to deploy an AI-assisted waiver application review for drone operations.

Adam Bercu, founder and CEO of Massachusetts-based drone developer and operator Guardian Agriculture tells us: “This EO will accelerate how quickly domestic manufacturers, like Guardian, can accelerate market capture from global incumbents. 

“It could also open up a path to streamline regulatory approvals and lower barriers for innovation, which will ultimately bolster American resiliency and leadership in this critical sector of technology – in turn creating a stable, America-first policy environment that will help attract investment.”

Matt Cox, founder and CEO of Beacon AI, a company focused on developing AI-based augmentation software for flight decks, agrees that the orders bring some solidity to the path to streamline regulatory approvals; however, they also raise a number of questions.

“The problem is that there are a bunch of different gates in order to deploy a fielded aviation capability,” Cox tells us. “Even if you are to remove or reduce part of the gates through this EO, it may not solve the rest of it. There are safety and operational requirements and other approval gates that still lack a clear path forward. 

“I want to keep the optimism around the EO, especially that the administration is looking to modernise and improve the transportation sector. The initiative is great, but there are a ton of steps left.” 

The EO is “thematically” positive for the industry, according to Larry Berkin, partner at Mobiventures. “When Trump first got into office, he recognised that a lot of the drone industry was operating in places other than the US. The first thing he did was set up 10 different government-funded test sites here in the US. That action was very drone positive; if you’re close to the UAM action you will have seen a lot of the passenger drone developers have used those corridors.”

Competing with China

Given what’s transpired over the past several years – expanding Chinese supply chain dominance and the conflicts in which the use of small drones specifically has massively increased – there’s been a “huge upsurge” in the demand for made-at-home or allied-based products, said Berkin.

“I’ve been part of the Blue UAS programme since its inception, and I’d say part of these new EOs is to A, fund existing development and B, open the aperture for more throughput. There is a recognition that we as the US have sort of abandoned the industrial infrastructure and supply chain that’s needed to produce drones at scale.

“This set of EOs unlock a lot of that. And there is certainly a congressional budget attached to this which will move the needle. The critical piece is the specific timeline for the implementation of BVLOS rules. That was previously stated, but this is a hard and fast requirement now that has some teeth to it.”

As Berkin points out, President Trump was supportive of the US drone industry during his first term, including expediting the waiver process, opening up airspace corridors for testing and promoting US drone sovereignty. But given China’s continued dominance of the market, especially with essential components like silicon and chips, how much of the manufacturing process can be completed at home?

Berkin believes that question depends on the aircraft type. Specifically on the small UAS side, there are only a handful of drone manufacturers who can build at thousands of units per month the DoD requires. “In that respect I think it going to take a while, but the appetite is there. However, given the global dependence on silicon and batteries, if you get down to the granular level it is going to be very difficult to avoid Chinese made stuff.

“Whether or not silicon re-domiciles to the US in terms of manufacturing remains to be seen, I think it will be spurred by companies like Apple who are the primary consumers,” adds Berkin

Guardian’s Bercu agrees: “The reality is that the build-out of that supply chain will not happen overnight. It’s critical that we either begin the process or partner with allied nations especially on core technologies like motor controllers, battery management systems, flight controls and radios.

“If we don’t shore up our own supply chain, we will be massively risking security vulnerability in a big way. We need to leverage EOs like this one to increase investment and regain a leading position in the sector, otherwise we will be trading national security, infrastructure security and food security.”

During his time at the DIU, Cox from Beacon AI noticed that a lot of the core products and components in use are manufactured in China. He uses the example of the graphics processor unit (GPU) – an electric circuit advanced drones rely on for tasks like computer vision and sensor processing. These are predominantly manufactured in China, says Cox.

“The question is can we convince leading GPU companies like Qualcomm or Nvidia to move their production line to the US? How far down the supply chain will the components be US sourced? It requires a massive capital investment up front, and it isn’t clear who is willing to pay for this. It also isn’t clear the industry is ready to pay the much higher prices that may come with this. A lot of people are looking at this, hopefully a great solution emerges from this renewed focus.”

FAA’s plans for integrating AI

An EO requirement to be actioned 120 days after publication is the introduction of an AI-assisted waiver application review for drone operations. The software will help to evaluate proposed operations, look for materially similar precedents and identify operations with either enough safety data or recurring approvals that “may warrant further rulemaking” to remove the need for individualised waivers.

To be used in accordance with guidance on federal use of AI, the new software appears to be an attempt to augment the already-stretched workforce which has been slimmed down further since President Trump took office.

“The increase in waiver applications has had an impact, not just on the FAA, but civil aviation authorities worldwide, because it is a very manual process,” said Berkin. “A, the standardisation, and B, the ability for AI to check a lot of the basics and then manage by exception, I think will be a good thing. I don’t think that they intend to relax any of the safety thresholds they’ve set. The intent is to up the throughput in terms of processing power.”

Mark Bathrick, president of Bathrick Aviation Consulting, notes that the EO lacks specific ethical guidelines or a robust framework for the development and deployment of AI in drone systems. In particular, there is no reference to autonomous decision-making, potential biases or the implications of AI-powered surveillance.

According to Beacon AI’s Cox, when he last spoke with the FAA leadership, there still appears to be no solid pathway to incorporate AI into core avionics. The industry is currently at the Working Group step. After this, technical standards will be developed, followed by the rulemaking process, which includes a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). There are many steps to follow, so it feels like we are still quite a few years away from this becoming a reality.

In the near term, high-level frameworks are likely to be published by regulators to initiate the stakeholder alignment process. The frameworks don’t appear to be enough, in my view, to build a company around, especially for a first product, which is intentionally not a factor for Beacon. The practical approach from the FAA does make sense, given the industry assurance and traceability requirements. Commercial aircraft core avionics will eventually incorporate AI, but this EO does not appear to affect that.

Individual responsibility remains 

With the orders’ focus predominantly on accelerating operations and domestic manufacturing, other areas key to operations, such as liability and insurance, are not addressed. A point Bathrick also raised in his summary of the EOs.

The responsibility for building up all the facets, particularly those not integral to getting aircraft certified, often being left to private industry stakeholders is a recurring theme in the advanced aircraft development world.

Berkin says: “A lot of it has sort of been punted into the private world. Which, quite frankly, has been a challenge because you’ve seen a lot of investment go into certain areas that haven’t provided the return that a lot of the investors expected. So, there’s been a bit of a pullback because it’s a highly regulated, high-hazard business.”

However, as operations get unlocked, safety cases are proven and consumer, business and commercial adoption flows, Berkin thinks the commercial opportunity for insurance in terms of support infrastructure will take care of itself. “There are a bunch of major insurance companies that have strong, robust drone programmes. I think part of the challenge with this right now, from their perspective, is there’s no sort of equivalent of actuarial tables that can be relied upon, because there hasn’t been enough tracked flights and corresponding accident information profiles,” he explains.

The same goes for associated infrastructure such as command-and-control networks. According to Kevin Steen, CEO of Aura Network Systems, policy is key to BVLOS expansion, but so is purpose-built connectivity. Aura is working on its own 450 MHz aviation-designated spectrum for this purpose.

“A trusted command-and-control [C2] network is essential to scaling BVLOS operations,” says Steen. “Secure, low-latency links  including pilot-to-air traffic control [ATC] voice communications  are critical to industry-wide adoption. As federal leadership advances the regulatory framework, dedicated connectivity solutions must evolve alongside policy to meet the industry’s needs.”

As the only FAA-approved non-vertically integrated UAS traffic management (UTM) service provider, Brent Klavon, chief strategy officer at Anra Technologies, tells us the company is encouraged by both the recent executive orders and the forthcoming new drone rule, commonly referred to as Part 108.

“Together, these actions have the potential to drive meaningful industry growth by providing regulatory clarity, improving airspace security and advancing the integration of advanced air mobility.” 

Duffy announces DoT plans

Separate to the new EOs, it is important to note that the FAA is seeking a company to lead the building of a brand new air traffic control system.

According to a statement released in early June, the chosen company will play “a key role in executing President Trump and US Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy’s vision for building the air traffic system of the future”. The new system will replace core infrastructure including radar, software, hardware and telecommunications networks. Duffy has also made air traffic controller hiring a top priority.

“We have an antiquated air traffic control system that is showing its age,” said Duffy. “In order to implement President Trump and I’s plan for a brand new system, we need the technical expertise and management experience from the best innovators in the world.”

The reality of the EOs is that many of the requirements issued within it relate to work that is already underway. But it might go some way to speeding up that work and it does come across as a potential win for administration. Two things are certain, first, the US drone industry can be sure it has federal backing, both in policy and funding. Second, no matter who is in The White House, reshoring critical industries remains a key priority.

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