Welcome to your weekly UAS news update. We have three stories for you. DJI gets a big win. We have a new drone tariff. And then lastly, we have a Chinese drone maker that is somehow getting FCC clearance. So, let’s get to it.
DJI Scores Its First Big Legal Win in Years Against the Pentagon Blacklist
In the first story, DJI scored its biggest legal win in years. On August 14th, a federal appeals court partially reversed the lower court ruling in DJI’s fight against its Pentagon blacklist status. If you’re not familiar with this, DJI was added to that list back in 2022 as an alleged Chinese military company.
The court sided with the government on most points, but on one key issue, it agreed with DJI. The Pentagon claimed that DJI contributes to the Chinese defense industrial base, but that section of the report was entirely redacted. So the court said that they can’t take the government’s word for it, and now the case goes back to the lower court for another look.
DJI is still on the blacklist for now, and nothing is really changing for consumers today. But this is the biggest pushback we’ve seen yet against one of the government’s key arguments that has so far lacked public evidence.
New Drone Tariffs as High as 100% Are Coming Within Weeks
In the second story, the Trump administration just announced new tariffs on imported drones and drone parts — some tariffs as high as 100%, with drones over 55 pounds and thermal drones facing the top tariff rate. Smaller drones without those features will generally face a 25% tariff. Allied countries like Japan, Taiwan, and the EU are going to get a 15% rate, and the UK will get a 10% rate.
Most of these tariffs kick in within weeks, and the goal here is boosting US manufacturing and cutting reliance on China — which is interesting, seeing some of the other countries on the list here. However, with the FCC appearing to target foreign manufacturers’ ability to sell drones in the US at all, well, a 100% tariff on $0 is still $0.
The HOVERAir Versa Somehow Cleared the FCC While DJI Stays Blocked
And in the last story, HOVERAir just opened pre-orders for its new Versa, a pocket camera that converts into a self-flying drone — and unexpectedly, it cleared for sale in the United States. That’s right, the HOVERAir Versa is FCC approved.
That’s notable because HOVERAir’s last drone, the Aqua, was not on the FCC approval list. They missed it by weeks and had to refund over $2 million to US backers. The Versa weighs 230 grams, shoots 4K at 60 frames per second, and comes in under the FAA’s 0.55-pound registration threshold for recreational flyers.
This is kind of a stark contrast with the DJI Osmo Pocket 4, which is a camera that does not fly, and it’s still blocked from sales in the US. So it’s a bit of a strange thing, quite frankly — a flying camera gets in and the handheld doesn’t. Keeping in mind, of course, that this is a crowdfunded pre-order, not a guaranteed purchase, and shipping delays and anything else can change along the way.
The conversation is going to continue in Post-Flight, where we’re going to talk about the stories uncensored in the premium community. There’s a link in the description. We’ll see you during the live on Monday as well. Have a great weekend.
This article is based on a video from our YouTube partner Greg Reverdiau. Watch the full weekly UAS news update on the Pilot Institute YouTube channel, and find more of Greg’s work on his DroneXL author page.
