FAA publishes FDC 6/2824, scrapping the ‘ICE NOTAM’ blanket drone ban and adopting ‘Department of War’ language

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published FDC NOTAM 6/2824 on April 15, 2026 at 17:43 UTC, replacing the controversial nationwide drone restriction known as the “ICE NOTAM.” The new notice drops the blanket prohibition on flying near federal mobile assets, removes the “National Defense Airspace” classification, and switches from “Department of Defense” to the Trump administration’s renamed “Department of War.” DroneXL confirmed the text through the FAA’s Federal NOTAM System Search after drone industry contact James Van Booven flagged the change before it propagated to public TFR maps. DroneXL has been covering this restriction since January 23, when we first reported on the compliance nightmare it created.

Old NOTAM banned all drones within fixed distances

FDC 6/4375, issued January 16, 2026, told drone operators in absolute terms: “ALL UNMANNED ACFT ARE PROHIBITED FROM FLYING WITHIN A STAND-OFF DISTANCE OF 3000FT LATERALLY AND 1000FT ABOVE” any Department of Defense, Department of Energy, or Department of Homeland Security facility or mobile asset. The FAA classified this airspace as “National Defense Airspace” under 49 U.S.C. Section 40103(b)(3). Flying inside it, even accidentally, carried the risk of criminal charges, civil penalties, and certificate revocation.

The core problem was compliance. No flight planning tool showed these restrictions in real time. Not B4UFLY, not LAANC, not AirControl. Showing them would have required the FAA to broadcast the live locations of federal agents and ICE convoys. As we reported in February, press groups called this a First Amendment problem. In March, we covered how FAA Order 2150.3C Change 13 paired the invisible restriction with zero-tolerance enforcement. Vic Moss of the Drone Service Providers Alliance (DSPA) connected those two pieces, and the picture was clear: a restriction pilots could not see, enforced with no room for judgment.

Verbatim text of the new FDC 6/2824

Here is the full text of the new NOTAM as retrieved from the FAA’s Federal NOTAM System search on April 15, 2026:

!FDC 6/2824 FDC PART 1 OF 2 SECURITY NOTICE…NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISORY FOR UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM (UAS) OPERATIONS IN PROXIMITY TO SELECT COVERED MOBILE ASSETS NATIONWIDE. THIS NOTAM REPLACES NOTAM FDC 6/4375.

UAS OPERATORS ARE ADVISED TO AVOID FLYING IN PROXIMITY TO: DEPARTMENT OF WAR (DOW), DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE), DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (DOJ), AND DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (DHS) COVERED MOBILE ASSETS AS DEFINED IN 10 U.S.C. 130I, 10 U.S.C. 6227, AND 6 U.S.C 124N, INCLUDING GROUND VEHICLE CONVOYS AND THEIR ASSOCIATED ESCORTS.

UAS OPERATORS WHO FLY WITHIN THIS AIRSPACE ARE WARNED THAT PURSUANT TO 10 U.S.C. 130I, 10 U.S.C. 6227, AND 6 U.S.C 124N, DOW, DOE, DOJ, OR DHS MAY TAKE ACTION THAT RESULTS IN THE INTERFERENCE, DISRUPTION, SEIZURE, DAMAGING, OR DESTRUCTION OF UNMANNED ACFT DEEMED TO POSE A CREDIBLE SAFETY OR SECURITY THREAT TO COVERED MOBILE ASSETS.

UAS OPERATORS SHOULD THEREFORE EXERCISE CAUTION WHEN FLYING IN PROXIMITY OF ALL DOW, DOE, DOJ AND DHS MOBILE ASSETS.

Four changes that matter for drone pilots

The new NOTAM differs from FDC 6/4375 in four substantive ways. Each one matters for how pilots should think about compliance and legal exposure.

First, the language shifts from “prohibited” to “advised.” There are no specific stand-off distances. The 3,000-foot lateral and 1,000-foot vertical hard lines that defined the old restriction are gone. Operators are now told to “exercise caution” and “avoid flying in proximity” without numeric geometry.

Second, the “National Defense Airspace” classification under 49 U.S.C. Section 40103(b)(3) has been removed entirely. That designation was the legal hook that made mere presence inside the zone an automatic violation of federal security airspace. With it gone, the FAA is no longer treating proximity as a per se national-security offense.

Third, the NOTAM now lists Department of War (DOW), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Justice (DOJ), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The “Department of War” designation reflects the Trump administration’s Executive Order 14347 signed September 5, 2025, which authorized “Department of War” as a secondary title for the Department of Defense. Another active FAA UAS notice, FDC 5/0306, uses the same DOW language. DOJ is also a new addition to the covered-assets list: the old NOTAM only cited DOJ in the enforcement-action boilerplate, not as an agency whose mobile assets were covered. Adding DOJ sweeps in FBI, DEA, ATF, and U.S. Marshals operations.

Fourth, the legal authority cited for covered assets and counter-UAS mitigation is now 10 U.S.C. 130i, 10 U.S.C. 6227, and 6 U.S.C. 124n. The addition of 10 U.S.C. 6227 is new; it did not appear in FDC 6/4375. Those three statutes are the counter-UAS authorities Congress granted to specific departments, and they require individualized threat assessments rather than geographic presence as the trigger for action.

DHS held up the revised NOTAM for weeks

This revision did not come out of nowhere. Vic Moss reported in March that the FAA had a revised NOTAM ready to publish but another agency, widely understood to be DHS, was blocking its release. Moss encouraged drone operators to email the FAA’s System Operations Support Center (SOSC) at 9-ATOR-HQ-SOSC@faa.gov to document that they were trying to comply with a restriction they could not see. The DSPA’s logic was that if enough pilots created a paper trail showing operational uncertainty, SOSC could relay actual numbers to DHS and demonstrate that the restriction was unworkable. That pressure campaign appears to have worked.

As of publication, FDC 6/2824 has not yet propagated to the FAA’s public TFR graphic map or the UDDS active UAS NOTAMs page, both of which still list FDC 6/4375 as active. This is typical propagation delay for a NOTAM issued the same day. The FAA’s general UAS contact is now UASHELP@faa.gov or (844) FLY-MY-UA per the new NOTAM text.

Practical impact for Part 107 and recreational pilots

The effect for Part 107 operators and recreational flyers is a reduction in legal exposure. Under the old NOTAM, you could face criminal prosecution for flying your drone on a routine job while an unmarked DHS convoy passed through your area. The new language treats proximity as a situation warranting caution, not an automatic federal offense.

That said, the advisory is not a green light. DOW, DOE, DOJ, and DHS still retain the authority to interfere with, seize, or destroy drones they consider a credible threat under 10 U.S.C. 130i, 10 U.S.C. 6227, and 6 U.S.C. 124n. Pilots should continue checking NOTAMs before every flight and remain aware that federal mobile operations can occur anywhere without advance notice. The difference is that accidental proximity is no longer treated the same as a deliberate security threat.

DroneXL’s Take

I’ve been covering FDC 6/4375 since the week it dropped in January. We wrote about it first on January 23, then followed up on February 2, February 3, and March 12. Every article said the same thing: the original restriction was unworkable as written, and it punished pilots for situations they could not anticipate or avoid. Three months later, the FAA has rewritten it to match what it should have said from the start.

Hat tip to James Van Booven for spotting this within hours of issuance, before the TFR page or UDDS list updated. That kind of watchdog work from inside the community is exactly how the industry polices its own airspace.

Two things stand out. The removal of the “National Defense Airspace” designation is the real substantive win. That designation was the legal trap door that made an invisible moving zone into automatic criminal exposure. Stripping 49 U.S.C. 40103(b)(3) from the authority stack means the enforcement ceiling drops dramatically. The second thing is harder to miss: federal aviation notices are now referring to a “Department of War,” reflecting the secondary title authorized by Executive Order 14347 in September 2025. Whatever you think of the rename, it is now embedded across the federal aviation rulebook.

The open question is whether FAA Order 2150.3C Change 13, the zero-tolerance enforcement policy, gets updated to reflect the softer NOTAM. If investigators are still required to refer every case to the Chief Counsel but the underlying restriction is now advisory with no fixed geometry, the enforcement posture needs recalibration. Watch for that update in the coming weeks.

DroneXL uses automated tools to support research and source retrieval. All reporting and editorial perspectives are by Haye Kesteloo.