NDAA-compliant drone components, for the people who make them.

Published 2026-09-09

Three rules that name components

• Section 848, FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act. Bars the Department of Defense from buying drones and drone components made in a covered foreign country or by a covered entity. Names flight controllers, radios and data transmission devices, cameras and gimbals, ground control systems, operating software, network connectivity, and data storage.
• American Security Drone Act, in the FY2024 NDAA. Extends the bar from the Department of Defense to every federal agency, and to anyone spending federal money: no procurement, and since December 22, 2025, no operation with federal funds, of drones or critical components made or assembled by a covered foreign entity. The entity list is published in the federal award system and includes entities domiciled in or controlled by the People's Republic of China and named makers such as DJI and Autel.
• The FCC covered list, December 22, 2025. Adds foreign-produced drones and their critical components to the list of equipment that cannot receive new FCC authorization. The FCC's definition of a critical component is the widest of the three: data transmission devices, communications systems, flight controllers, ground control stations and controllers, navigation systems, sensors and cameras, batteries and battery management systems, and motors. Already-authorized equipment may still be sold; it cannot be modified in a way that needs a new authorization.

Section 889 of the FY2019 NDAA sits alongside these and covers telecommunications and video surveillance equipment from named Chinese makers across all federal procurement; a radio or camera module from one of those makers fails on that ground alone.

What "compliant" means for a part

There is no certificate. A component is compliant when its manufacturer can state, in writing, that it is not made or assembled by a covered foreign entity and contains no covered subcomponents, and can show the bill of materials behind the statement. A drone maker collects those statements from its suppliers and gives its buyers one statement for the whole aircraft. That is the document a grant file, a federal purchase card, or a state agency asks for. A part without a statement cannot go into an aircraft that claims one.

The January 2026 exemption, and why domestic content now has a number

On January 26, 2026, the FCC exempted from its covered list, through January 1, 2027, any drone or critical component on the Blue UAS Cleared List, and any that qualifies as a domestic end product under the Buy American Act: 65 percent US component cost through 2028, rising to 75 percent from 2029. For a component maker that means the share of US content in a part is now worth documenting to the percentage point, because it decides whether the part can be authorized at all. The FCC said it would revisit the date before it arrives.

Where the gaps are

Under Section 848, motors, batteries, and electronic speed controllers were never named, because the rules were written against data risk rather than supply risk. Reporting in November 2025 quoted a former defense official that those three are the top Chinese-made parts still inside cleared aircraft, with no timeline to change the rule. The FCC's December 2025 definition now names batteries and motors, so new foreign-produced ones cannot be authorized. The result is a shortage: every US aircraft maker that claims compliance needs a documented US or allied source for exactly the parts that are hardest to find. Cameras, radios, and flight controllers are more crowded, and still needed.

What a US aircraft maker needs from you

1. A written origin statement covering the part and its major subcomponents.
2. A bill of materials that supports it, held on file and available to the aircraft maker.
3. The US content percentage, if you have it, against the Buy American thresholds.
4. A part a customer can replace in the field, at a price and lead time a small maker can plan on.

EnCor builds the Corvin in Tulsa today and the Spector and Ranger next, without Section 889 covered components, and gives buyers a written component-origin statement. A partner part becomes a line in it. The component partner page says what each aircraft accepts and how to propose one.

Questions component makers ask

Which drone components do the NDAA rules cover?

The systems named in Section 848 of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act and the American Security Drone Act: flight controllers, radios and data transmission devices, cameras and gimbals, ground control stations and controllers, network connectivity hardware, data storage, and operating software. The FCC's December 2025 covered-list definition of a critical component is wider still and adds navigation systems, sensors, batteries and battery management, and motors.

Is there an NDAA-compliant certification for components?

No. Compliance is a statement by the manufacturer that the part is not made or assembled by a covered foreign entity and contains no covered subcomponents. Nobody certifies it. What carries weight is a written origin statement that names where the part and its major subcomponents are made, and a bill of materials behind it.

What is a covered foreign entity?

An entity on the list the Federal Acquisition Security Council publishes in the System for Award Management, which includes entities domiciled in or controlled by the People's Republic of China, entities in other sanctioned countries, and named makers such as DJI and Autel.

Are motors and batteries covered?

By the FCC covered-list definition since December 2025, yes: batteries, battery management, and motors are critical components, and new foreign-produced ones cannot receive FCC authorization. Under the older Section 848 list they are not named, which is why reporting in November 2025 found them still mostly Chinese on cleared aircraft. Either way, a documented US or allied source is what a compliant aircraft maker is looking for.

Does a part need Blue UAS to count as NDAA-compliant?

No. Blue UAS is a Department of Defense cleared list, a separate program with its own assessment. NDAA compliance is the origin standard underneath it. A part with documented origin is compliant without any listing; a listing adds a route to defense buyers and, until January 1, 2027, an FCC exemption.

Is EnCor NDAA-compliant?

EnCor aircraft are designed and built in Tulsa, Oklahoma, without Section 889 covered components or telecommunications, and EnCor gives buyers a written component-origin statement. EnCor does not claim a Blue UAS listing.