WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security has issued a comprehensive interagency exclusion order directing the mandatory removal and replacement of foreign-manufactured commercial drones and closed-circuit video surveillance equipment across federal facilities and critical port operations.
WASHINGTON — Invoking authorities granted under the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act (FASCSA), Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued a binding exclusion order prohibiting federal agencies, defense contractors, and recipients of federal port security grants from operating commercial unmanned aircraft systems and surveillance hardware produced by designated foreign adversary entities.
The directive targets prominent manufacturers based in the People’s Republic of China, specifically including commercial drone giants DJI and Autel Robotics, as well as video surveillance manufacturers Hikvision and Dahua Technology, whose cameras remain embedded across thousands of municipal buildings and maritime port facilities.
National Security Risks of Data Exfiltration and Remote Access
The interagency exclusion follows years of forensic evaluations conducted by DHS Science and Technology, the FBI, and the Department of Defense. Technical teardowns of commercial foreign drones revealed that onboard flight software and companion mobile applications routinely transmit sensitive telemetry—including high-resolution geospatial imagery, precise GPS waypoints, and unencrypted video feeds—back to servers located in jurisdictions subject to China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law, which compels domestic companies to support state intelligence apparatuses upon demand.
“Allowing foreign-manufactured surveillance equipment and commercial drones to operate over sensitive military installations, national power grids, and commercial ports introduces an unmitigated counterintelligence and supply chain risk,” said CISA Executive Assistant Director Eric Goldstein. “We cannot allow adversary-aligned hardware to serve as unmonitored sensors mapping our sovereign infrastructure.”
Transitioning to Blue UAS and Trusted Domestic Vendors
To support state, local, and federal agencies transitioning away from excluded foreign hardware, DHS is partnering with the Defense Innovation Unit to expand the “Blue UAS” clearinghouse—a curated roster of vetted, cyber-hardened commercial drones manufactured in the United States and allied nations.
Congress has appropriated $350 million in transition grants to assist municipal police departments, search-and-rescue teams, and infrastructure operators in replacing banned platforms. Federal procurement officials emphasized that while American-built commercial drones currently carry a higher capital cost, the investment is essential to incubating a resilient domestic unmanned systems manufacturing ecosystem free from foreign state coercion.