Executive Orders Aim to Boost Drones, eVTOLs, Counter-UAS and Supersonic Flight

• Drones and eVTOLS EO. Promotes U.S. “development, commercialization, and export” of drones and creates eVTOL integration pilot program.
• Counter-UAS EO. Directs the U.S. Government to find ways to safeguard critical infrastructure, expand federal authority to engage in counter-UAS and make it easier for state and local authorities to detect and identify UAS operations.
• Supersonic Flight EO. Requires the FAA to repeal the prohibition on overland supersonic flight, establish an interim noise-based-certification standard and repeal other regulations that hinder supersonic flight.

On June 6, the White House issued three executive orders (EOs) directing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to take action to expand commercial drone (UAS) operations and strengthen counter-drone capabilities. The EOs also direct the FAA to establish an electric-vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) integration pilot program focused on advanced air mobility, cargo transport and medical response, and to lift an over 50-year ban on civil supersonic flight over land.

Cumulatively, the EOs call for sweeping policy and rulemaking initiatives, several with aggressive timelines, signaling the Trump administration’s commitment to accelerating these aviation technologies into the U.S. economy.

The following is an overview of each of the three EOs.

Unleashing American Drone Dominance
The first EO, “Unleashing American Drone Dominance,” directs a series of fast-tracked federal actions with a focus on commercial drone production and operations to solidify U.S. leadership in unmanned aviation. The three policy goals include:

• accelerating the safe integration of drones into the National Airspace System, particularly through rulemaking to enable routine advanced operations;
• advancing domestic commercialization of drone technologies at scale, including manufacturing and production, by supporting industry-led innovation, reducing regulatory uncertainty and streamlining approvals and certification processes—including for consumer goods delivery and environmental reviews; and
• strengthening the domestic drone industrial base and increasing exports of American-manufactured drones.

Specifically, the EO directives include:

• Accelerated Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight (BVLOS) Rulemaking. Within 30 days of the date of the order, the FAA must issue a notice of proposed rulemaking enabling BVLOS operations for drones for commercial and public safety purposes. A final rule must be published within 240 days of the order.

  The EO also directs the FAA, within 30 days, to establish metrics for assessing the performance and safety of BVLOS operations, and within 180 days, to identify any additional regulatory barriers to BVLOS implementation, with recommendations for addressing the issues expeditiously.

  There is a pending BVLOS proposed rulemaking with the FAA (known as Part 108); however, it has endured lengthy delays and has not yet been published. The 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act directed the FAA to issue a BVLOS proposed rule by September 2024, but the FAA missed that deadline. The FAA, as of the date of this publication, has now also missed the new 30-day deadlines to publish the BVLOS proposed rule and metrics, as required by the EO. While this latest missed deadline follows the prior pattern, the EO directive sets a new tone within the new Administration and a proposed rule could be issued soon. We will issue follow-up guidance as soon the proposed rule and metrics are published.

  Under Part 107 (the current small-UAS rule) drone pilots must keep drones within visual line of slight unless they obtain a waiver from the FAA. The visual-line-of-sight requirement limits range and can be a significant hurdle for scaling operations. The rulemaking and BVLOS capability would be significant for many industries, including infrastructure inspection, drone delivery, agriculture and public safety agencies.

• Deployment of AI to Assist and Expedite Review of Part 107 Waiver Applications. To assist the FAA in expeditiously reviewing and approving Part 107 waiver applications, the FAA is directed to initiate the deployment of AI tools to streamline the processing of waiver applications related to small drone operations. This will be a major step forward by allowing the quicker review and approval of wavier applications.
• High Seas Operations. The FAA is instructed to explore options to enable drone operations over the “high seas” (more than 12 nautical miles offshore) without being required to possess an airworthiness certificate, as called for under the Chicago Convention and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards. This effort has long been advocated by companies with offshore oil rigs and other companies with similar use cases and could create near-term opportunities for longer-range commercial drone providers.
• Integration into the National Airspace System. Within 240 days of the date of the order, the FAA must publish an updated roadmap for the integration of civil drones into the National Airspace System, including ensuring all FAA UAS Test Ranges are fully utilized to support the development and scaling of U.S. drone and unmanned aircraft companies. This will be a major step in enabling greater commercial BVLOS drone usage, including for deliveries and other tasks.

• Establish an eVTOL Pilot Program. The FAA is directed to establish an eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP) to accelerate the deployment of eVTOL operations in the United States. This program is intended to be an extension of the current BEYOND program, which works with select participants on UAS integration testing and data collection.

  As part of the eIPP effort, the EO directs the FAA Administrator to issue within 90 days of the date of the order a public request for proposals from state, local, Tribal and territorial (SLTT) governments. The proposals must include a private sector partner that has experience in the eVTOL industry. Following the proposal period, the FAA is authorized to choose at least five pilot projects that intend to begin operations within 90 days of finalizing the pilot project agreement.

  The selection criteria for pilot projects will include review of:

  - eVTOL technologies that are offered or developed by a U.S. entity;

  - representation of economic or geographic operations and models of public-private partnerships; and

  - representation of the operations that will be conducted, such as advanced air mobility, medical response, cargo transport and rural access.

  The eIPP will conclude three years after the date the first pilot project is operational. The FAA will use the operational data collected from the pilot programs to support the development of future regulations, which will be essential to the eventual deployment of these systems for public use.

• Strengthen the U.S. Drone Industrial Base. The EO requires all federal agencies to prioritize the integration of drones manufactured in the United States over those made abroad. Within 30 days, the EO directs the Federal Acquisition Security Council to publish a Covered Foreign Entry List, identifying companies that pose supply chain risks. And within 90 days, the Department of Commerce (DOC) must take actions, including proposing a rulemaking and conducting investigation, to secure the U.S. drone supply chain against foreign control or exploitation.

  This could include initiating an investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, given the national security and supply chain focus and current U.S. concerns about Chinese-built UAS. Such an investigation could result in the Administration imposing tariffs if the DOC concludes that imports of such technology impair U.S. national security, including suppressing the competitiveness of the domestic drone market. This comes on the heels of a National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) mandated national security review of DJI Technologies and Autel Robotics, two leading Chinese-UAS companies, and could also lead to the banning of Chinese-built UAS.

  This follows a 2025 NDAA requirement to analyze the UAS supply and could be the basis for significant U.S. Government investments in building out a U.S.-UAS supply chain. Further, because of the new requirements to prioritize the integration of drones manufactured in the United States over drones manufactured abroad, its impact will not be limited to Chinese UAS but will also be felt by allied-built UAS sold in the United States. Such companies will want to look at options to build in the United States to avoid losing the U.S. market.

• Promoting the Export of American-Made Civil Drones. To promote exports, the EO authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to work with the Secretaries of State, Defense and Energy to review and amend export control regulations “to enable the expedited export of United States-manufactured civil UAS to foreign partners,” ensuring that such recipient countries and end users are not classified as foreign adversaries. This section of the EO further directs agencies to develop and support additional loans, equity financing, insurance, technical assistance and market access for drones. This could create significantly enhanced direct commercial sales and foreign military sales opportunities for U.S. drone manufacturers, as well as create more competition for allied-drone manufacturers in their home countries.
• Updating Department of Defense (DoD) Federal Procurement Eligibility. The EO provides for the DoD to be able to “procure, integrate, and train using low-cost, high-performing drones manufactured in the United States” by updating the Defense Innovation Unit’s Blue UAS List to enable all authorized platforms to operate on military installations or ranges. It also directs the DoD to prioritize the procurement of drones made by U.S. companies that are compliant with Section 848 of the FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Section 848 generally restricts the DoD from procuring UAS that are manufactured in China or containing components, data storage or network connectivity linked to China.

Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty
The second EO, “Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty,” addresses the increasing risk posed by unauthorized drone activity in low-altitude airspace and requires several actions to support U.S. counter-UAS (C-UAS) capabilities, including:

• establishing the Federal Task Force to Restore American Airspace Sovereignty to review and propose solutions to UAS threats;
• directing the FAA to establish a process to restrict drone flights over critical infrastructure and other public facilities;
• instructing the FAA to make Notices to Airmen (NOTAM) and temporary flight restrictions freely available online for drone geofencing and aircraft navigation and guidance system purposes;
• requiring the Attorney General and the FAA to increase enforcement of civil and criminal laws against drone operators endangering the public, violating airspace restrictions or committing a crime;
• authorizing federal agencies to use existing authorities to detect, track and identify drones and drone signals, and enables SLTT law enforcement agencies (SLTT agencies) to access grant programs for similar equipment;
• mandating the publication of guidance to help private critical infrastructure owners and operators employ drone detection technologies;
• directing the Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security to explore integrating C-UAS operation responses as part of Joint Terrorism Task Forces that are stood up for mass gathering events;
• designing a risk-based assessment to designate borders, large airports, federal facilities, critical infrastructure and military installations as protected areas; and
• directing the Administration to create a National Training Center for C-UAS to build the needed C-UAS capacity to secure major events, such as the 2028 Summer Olympics.

By deploying needed C-UAS capabilities to SLTT authorities and creating protections for critical U.S. infrastructure, this EO is a major step towards enhancing U.S. security from UAS threats, a significant weakness. Industry and SLTT had been waiting for Congress to revise authorities to provide SLTT-enhanced authorities and to better address risks to mass gathering. These efforts, however, have stalled. This EO, proposes interim solutions, including through the Joint Terrorism Forces and supporting sales to SLTT, who need this technology the most to defend themselves.

These changes will create opportunities for UAS detection and C-UAS companies by expanding their market to SLTT agencies and authorities, as well as expanding federal government users. This will invigorate the C-UAS market by greatly enhancing demand and represent a significant growth opportunity for companies in these areas.

Note, there will still be regulatory challenges for deploying solutions, including specific technologies, and companies will want to consult with experts to ensure they are well-positioned to deploy these necessary systems.

Leading the World in Supersonic Flight
The third EO, “Leading the World in Supersonic Flight,” directs the FAA to repeal regulations in place for more than 50 years to permit supersonic flight over land within 180 days and establish an interim noise-based-certification standard. The current regulatory prohibition stems from thousands of noise-related and property damage complaints in the 1970s due to sonic booms. Current technological developments in “low boom” supersonic jets have made commercial supersonic travel quieter and more feasible. The stated goal of the EO is to reestablish the United States as the undisputed leader in supersonic flight.

Specifically, the EO requires:

• Established Noise-Certification Standards. The FAA is instructed to develop and propose noise-certification standards for takeoff, landing and en-route supersonic operations by early December 2026, with finalization expected by early June 2027.
• Promotion of Research and Development. The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), in collaboration with other agencies, is tasked with coordinating research and development efforts to advance supersonic aviation technology.
• International Engagement. The order emphasizes the need for international collaboration, such as with ICAO, to develop global regulations and facilitate the integration of supersonic flight into global aviation.

Next Steps
The EOs create significant opportunities for the expansion of commercial drone activities, counter-drone technologies and supersonic flight, and the Trump administration’s commitment to bolstering this innovation. As the various federal agencies tasked with carrying out the directives from the EOs take the required steps, Pillsbury’s Aviation, International Trade, Government Law and Strategies, and related teams will continue monitoring the developments to provide actional guidance.

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