American Security Drone Act: Winding Down Your Foreign-made UAS Purchases

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The American Security Drone Act (ASDA) is sweeping. It prohibits Federal agencies from procuring or operating and contractors/grant recipients from otherwise using Federal funds to purchase or utilize drones, certain drone components and associated software that are manufactured or assembled by a covered foreign entity. Covered foreign entities are defined broadly as Chinese or as other national-security-risk entities that appear on either a consolidated list or are otherwise identified by various Federal Agencies. As of December 22, 2025, the intent behind the ASDA is to eliminate reliance and dominance of foreign-made drones from the U.S. manufacturing base. This legislation aggressively pushes anyone who uses Federal dollars to buy only American when it comes to drones - used interchangeably with unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The President of the United States has taken additional steps to accelerate the U.S.’s commercialization and manufacturing of drone technologies. Unleashing American Drone Dominance, Executive Order issued on June 6, 2025, mandates both the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration to take concrete steps that will implement the new U.S. drone policy aimed at: accelerating the safe integration of UAS into the National Airspace System; advancing domestic commercialization of UAS at scale; and strengthening the domestic drone industrial base. Industry must remain vigilant in this shifting legal landscape in order to capitalize on domestic growth of the UAS industry and the waning use of foreign-made UAS.  

Procuring ASDA compliant UAS and UAS critical components and any associated software (as defined at 47 CFR 88.5) using Federal funds is achievable in at least seven different ways. Suppliers and purchasers of UAS and UAS critical components under Federal grants and contracts will align with the ASDA if: 

1. UAS and components including software are not on the Federal Acquisition Security Council’s (FASC) prohibited list;  
2. UAS and components including software are otherwise entirely American made and use no foreign components;  
3. UAS and components including software are currently on the Defense Contract Management Agency’s (DCMA) Blue List an option only available until January 1, 2027;  
4. UAS and components including software are approved for accession to DCMA’s Blue List an option only available until January 1, 2027;  
5. UAS and components including software meet the Buy American Standard an option only available until January 1, 2027; 
6. UAS and components including software fall under an exception under the ASDA as determined by the agency; or  
7. The agency has an approved ASDA waiver for the purchase. 

Note that some of these options are contract or grant dependent and may not be available for all suppliers. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has issued guidance to agencies to implement the ASDA. Memorandum M-26-02, at Appendices A and B, lays out specific guidance to agencies when procuring UAS using Federal contracts or grants. These larger UAS procurements must account for ways to mitigate the risks with foreign-made UAS processing, storing and transmitting Federal information and also ensure that suppliers do not appear on the FASC-prohibited list. The guidance at Appendix D further lays out standards for recipients purchasing a UAS using Federal funds in connection with a Federal project. In addition to the OMB guidance, it is important to consider recent National Defense Authorization Acts, the Federal Communications Commission’s guidance, National Security Determinations, the Uniform Administrative Requirements for Federal Awards, the Federal Acquisition Regulation and more.  Maynard Nexsen is here to support your business as you navigate this complex and shifting legal landscape when purchasing your federally funded UAS.