FY25 NDAA: A Temporary Reprieve for Chinese Drones or the Beginning of the End?

New language in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) gives U.S. agencies one year to assess security risks of Chinese drones, but the clock is ticking—and the outcome remains uncertain.  In this guest post from Matt Sloane of SkyfireAI, the real results of the legislation.  DRONELIFE neither accepts nor makes payment for guest posts.

The question of Chinese drone bans is settled(ish)…. For now

by Matt Sloane, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, SkyfireAI.

Last Friday, news of the agreed-upon text of the National Defense Authorization Act hit the wires; and along with it, a glimpse of whether the much-hyped Countering CCP Drones Act would be included.

We now know that it wasn’t, but in its place, there is some language that the public safety should be aware of.

Much as pro-DJI and Autel groups have asked for — the act calls for an appropriate national security-related agency to make a determination within one year about whether drones like DJI and Autel actually pose a risk to our information and national security.

If they do not perform that assessment in a timely manner, or if the assessment should find an unacceptable level of risk, plans will continue to add those manufacturers to the FCC’s covered list — essentially banning them from developing new models of their drones going forward.

If there is no risk, that action will not be taken.

On its face, it seems like a big win for the thousands of people who want to continue using these drones, and continue to buy new ones without fear of them getting banned.

BUT, and it’s a big but, this issue is far from settled.

In my conversations with several different parties on Capitol Hill, in the executive branch and those within DOD, there has always been smoke, and probably fire, when it comes to these allegations – it’s just been classified.

My gut tells me that this issue wouldn’t have persisted as long as it has, unless people in the know were reasonably convinced there was a threat. I don’t know that with certainty, but it stands to reason that the amount of political capital people like New York Rep. Elise Stefanik have used pushing this issue means there is some legitimate concern.

In addition, the NDAA only gives the national security apparatus one year to make this determination, and with a new administration coming in January – and one who doesn’t look kindly upon products coming from China – there’s a chance that those agencies simply don’t do the work, and the companies get added to the list anyway.

Then there’s the issue of whether agencies should be looking elsewhere for their drones anyway, on the chance that we’ll be dealing with this issue again in a year.

The smart money is on “yes”…

As we get closer to having very viable American or allied-made drones – something we haven’t really had in the past – it may just make plain sense to buy something non-Chinese for some people.

So yes, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to those who poured their heart and soul into getting this legislation out of the NDAA… It worked!

But whether this will lead to a true victory, or just be a short-lived stay of execution remains to be seen.

Read more:

• FY 2025 NDAA Conference Text: What Happened with the Countering CCP Drones Act
• DJI Responds, Calls for Fair Assessment in NDAA Drone Legislation

Matt Sloane is the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at SkyfireAI. With over a decade of experience in public safety and drone technology, Matt has helped countless agencies integrate drones into their critical incident response. Prior to Skyfire, he worked as a medical news producer at CNN and served as an EMT. Matt is actively involved in shaping drone regulations and policy and is a licensed pilot.