The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) loosened restrictions on some Chinese-made drones this week, although only those that count as “toy drones” and only those that exist within a preposterously narrow definition of what counts as a “toy drone.”

As DroneDJ reports, the FCC’s move essentially expands the list of foreign-made drones exempt from its sweeping “ban” that went into effect last year.

The ban is not technically an outright ban, but a practical one. The FCC added foreign-made unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and foreign-made components necessary for UAS to its “Covered List.” Anything on the Covered List has been determined to pose unacceptable risks to U.S. national security interests and is therefore not authorized for sale in the U.S. By default, a product on the FCC’s Covered List must be given an exemption to be imported into the U.S., so it is effectively banned from the market until specifically allowed in.

This week’s change automatically exempts certain drones from the FCC’s Covered List, including foreign-made “toy drones” that weigh less than 150 grams.

“Pursuant to Section 2 of the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019 (Secure Networks Act) and Sections 1.50002(a) and 1.50003 of the Commission’s rules, PSHSB announces that the Department of War (DoW) has determined that a specific class of foreign-produced Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS), known as ‘Toy Drones,’ and ‘Toy Drones that contain foreign-produced components,’ do not pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or to the safety and security of United States persons. PSHSB therefore removes them from the FCC’s Covered List,” the FCC explains in a statement released this week.

As expected, the definition of a “toy drone” is exceedingly narrow. Besides the 150-gram weight limit, which already eliminates most drones from exemption, the rest of the rules will prevent most ultra-light drones from contention.

Operation is limited to line-of-sight equal to or less than 100 meters. Tough luck, 135-gram DJI Neo. Maximum sustained altitude must be less than 300 feet.

The drone cannot have any GPS/GNSS or equivalent system, prohibiting any return-to-home or subject-tracking features. The “toy drone” cannot have any networking capabilities beyond the radio signals required for physical control, which means no Wi-Fi.

Perhaps worst of all, an FCC Covered List-exempt toy drone cannot have any imaging or sensing capabilities. No photo or video camera, no microphone, no live video feed, no onboard recording, or any “sensors capable of surveillance or data gathering on the toy.”

Flight time must be less than or equal to 10 minutes, speed cannot exceed 10 meters per second, it must be explicitly marketed as a toy, it cannot be modular, cannot have brushless motors, and cannot be made by a company identified in Section 1709 of the FY2025 National Defense Authorization Act, which specifically mentions DJI and Autel Robotics and any company affiliated with either of them.

The FCC’s new special carveout is so specific and limited that it is effectively useless. DJI continues its legal battle against the FCC regarding its Covered List.

Image credits: Header photo created using assets licensed via Depositphotos.com.

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