The FAA is giving drone manufacturers three more months to get their devices ready for Remote ID broadcasting. The effective date of Remote ID compliance for drone makers has been pushed back from September 16, 2022, to December 16, 2022. But this policy change comes with a “discretionary” caveat.
In a document published this week, the FAA acknowledges that there has been a delay on the agency’s part in formalizing the “accepted means of compliance,” referring to the under-the-hood methods by which a company would comply with the performance-based requirements for remote identification of drones.
The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) has helped the FAA to establish these standards by seeking input from both drone manufacturers and regulators.
Related: FAA’s Remote ID rule for drones is constitutional, DC court rules
According to a statement by the FAA, the agency accepted the ASTM F3586-22 means of compliance slightly more than a month before the September 16, 2022, compliance date.
And while the FAA has already received some declarations of compliance from manufacturers who are ready to meet the September 16 deadline, the agency realizes that other manufacturers may not have sufficient time to adequately design, develop, and test their drones for Remote ID broadcast by the stipulated time.
Accordingly, the FAA says it will exercise its discretion in determining how to handle any apparent noncompliance, including exercising discretion to not take enforcement action for any noncompliance that occurs on or before December 16, 2022.
Which drones are ready for Remote ID now?
One of the most common ways by which drone manufacturers plan to become Remote ID-ready is through a software update. This is an approach that both DJI and Skydio have announced they would follow.
Additionally, open-source drone flight control tech company Auterion has also said that all drones powered by its software can become Remote ID compliant with a single software update.
Meanwhile, for those seeking an immediate availability of Remote ID capabilities in a Pentagon-approved Blue sUAS platform, there’s the Ascent AeroSystems Spirit drone.
Read: Swiss firm debuts 4G drone-tracking device for Remote ID compliance
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