Unleashing American Drone Dominance

The order directs the FAA to issue a proposed rule within 30 days enabling routine Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operations — meaning drones flying beyond what the operator can see — and a final rule within 240 days. It requires the FAA to deploy artificial intelligence tools to speed up drone waiver reviews, publish an updated National Airspace System integration roadmap, and establish a new eVTOL Integration Pilot Program selecting at least five state, local, tribal, or territorial government projects to test electric air taxis within 90 days of proposals being solicited. The Federal Acquisition Security Council must publish a list of foreign drone companies posing supply chain risks within 30 days. Commerce must review export rules to ease the sale of American drones abroad, and Defense must expand the list of approved U.S.-made military drones and identify programs that drones could replace.

The order's most significant changes — including the BVLOS rules, export control amendments, and supply chain regulations — require future rulemaking or program selection processes; the order itself sets the calendar and priorities but does not directly create new legal rights for private operators. A standard no-private-right-of-action clause applies throughout.

Domestic drone manufacturers, commercial operators seeking airspace access, companies bidding for eVTOL pilot program contracts, state and local governments that can apply for those pilots, U.S. military buyers required to prioritize American-made drones, exporters of civil drones, and foreign buyers of U.S. drone technology.

Commercial drone operators gain a firm regulatory timeline for beyond-line-of-sight flights that have been stuck in a slow approval process. Defense buyers face new procurement mandates favoring U.S.-made hardware. Drone exporters get dedicated federal financing and market-access support. Communities in five pilot cities could see electric air taxi operations within roughly a year.

The order runs on parallel tracks with distinct agency leads: the FAA drives airspace rulemaking and eVTOL pilot selection, Commerce handles export controls and supply chain security, and Defense manages military procurement and training airspace. Reporting flows to the President through OSTP for civilian aviation matters and through the National Security Advisor for defense issues. The eVTOL pilot program runs three years from the first operational project, with annual and final reports, and may be extended. The FASC's foreign-entity list, due in 30 days, triggers supply chain review obligations across all agencies.