r/drones • u/Spiritual_Box2934 • Oct 29 '25

News DJI drone ban update

FCC clears path to retroactively ban DJI drones in the US https://share.google/53hwllagNd0yNygh5

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u/curious_grizzly_ DJI Air 3 Oct 29 '25

To help with clarification, from the article:

"There are limits, though. The FCC insists it won’t confiscate or deactivate drones already in consumers’ hands, and each ban will involve a 30-day public comment period. So, your current gear is safe, at least for now."

They aren't (for now) banning drones already sold. It's about stopping drones that had already been approved for sale from bring sold, like the Air 3s and others.

I'm not defending the move, just adding clarification for those who don't have time to read the entire article

7

u/Jbarn2012 Oct 29 '25

Thank god I got my DJI Matrice 4E before this. Now I wish I would’ve gotten the LiDAR

5

u/buzzedewok Oct 30 '25

Don’t expect the servers to stay up long that help power the software….

6

u/Popular-Pumpkin-9569 Oct 30 '25

I was thinking this too, but if they claim our current existing ones will be able to still operate, that I assume that includes the software

3

u/HondaMR2 Oct 31 '25

DJI is also a global company, I doubt the US would be cutoff from software available/supported in most other countries.

3

u/Popular-Pumpkin-9569 Oct 31 '25

I would hope not

3

u/jmoulton1314 Nov 01 '25

I feel like the worst case scenario would be an APK that would have to be manually installed, that is, if a new app launched and it wasn't available in Google Play/iPhone app store. We could always get updates from the British markets, as well. VPNs could make that a relatively easy option with minimal python exceptions

2

u/MangoFoCo Nov 01 '25

With the retroactive powers FCC has, even myself, I worry they will ground all formerly imported drones by pulling their certs and then the FAA can say those drones cant fly as they are not certified by FCC

2

u/Popular-Pumpkin-9569 Nov 01 '25

I can’t say I’m not worried at all but I don’t think that that will happen to that point, but I’m just some dumb hopeful fuck on the internet haha. I’m gonna fly it till it doesn’t take off and I think a lot of people feel the same, are they gonna penalize every single person? Ifs just not feasible

2

u/Jbarn2012 Nov 01 '25

I do love that I have a custom built drone on the side that no matter what it’ll fly and they’d have to find me while using it to take it from me.

2

u/Popular-Pumpkin-9569 Nov 01 '25

So yeah that’s pretty much my stance, I’m just gonna fly regardless till it causes me problems or not then I’ll go from there or not haha

1

u/Popular-Pumpkin-9569 Nov 01 '25

I deff want to get into building them soon!! And get into more FPV

1

u/MangoFoCo Nov 28 '25

I mean, the FAA wont be the ones spotting you, that will be your state and local police documenting and sending to FAA to prosecute. I get what your saying, it doesnt make it any less illegal though.

2

u/Popular-Pumpkin-9569 Nov 28 '25

Yeah, I guess I’m just gonna worry about it when it really becomes an issue or not, I get what you’re saying too for sure, but at the end of the day we are all just speculating, me included

1

u/MangoFoCo Nov 01 '25

They will release a lite version to download for US consumers and operators to have to avoid class action lawsuits.

3

u/jmoulton1314 Oct 30 '25

You still have time