Listed as part of the semi-annual Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, a new proposed rule will require drones registered with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to display a unique identifier assigned externally on the drone. As of today, drone owners and operators are required to enclose the ID on the insider of the drone (for e.g., in the battery compartment). Acting Administrator of the FAA, Daniel K. Elwell, said, “We need assurances that any drone, any unmanned aircraft, operating in controlled airspace is indefinable and trackable. It’s as simple as that.” Beyond this proposed rule, calls for visible IDs on all drones are coming from the defense and security side of the national airspace sector, as well as the commercial market, because they see digital, visible IDs as a path to safe beyond visual line of sight operations. We will continue to follow this, and other proposed legislation in this area, as it is introduced.

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