Home / News / Exedy Globalparts (Exedy Drones) · Parallel Flight Technologies · Jul 27, 2026
The FCC's foreign-drone ban keeps growing its exemption list — 17 and counting
Two more manufacturers won conditional FCC approval this month, extending a workaround path that now covers 17 companies. Consumer drones from DJI and Autel remain locked out, and the FCC is separately weighing tighter rules on military-grade foreign drones.
Published
Jul 27, 2026
Hub · Category
Type
News · Report
Format
Original write-up
Newest exemptions
Exedy Globalparts · Parallel Flight
Exemption count
17 companies on the Covered List workaround path
Topic
Import Compliance
Source
DroneDJ
Reviewed by
unit.report editorial review · Jul 27, 2026
Two more names on the list
The FCC granted Conditional Approval to two additional drone systems this month: Exedy Globalparts Corporation's Ayre CX and Parallel Flight Technologies' Firefly. Together they bring the total number of individual companies that have received exemptions from the agency's foreign-drone Covered List restrictions to 17 — a workaround path, not a repeal, that has been steadily widening in 2026 even as the underlying import ban stays in place for the manufacturers it targets.
The other 15 companies already holding exemptions, per DroneDJ's tracking, are SiFly Aviation, Mobilicom, ScoutDI, Verge, Sees.ai, Air6 System, Elevon Aerial, Blueflite, Verity AG, Air VEV, Innovation First International, Flock Safety, ABZ Innovation, Real-Time Robotics, and Ceres Air — a list dominated by commercial and industrial drone makers rather than consumer camera-drone brands.
What changed on July 21
"Manufacturers that can satisfy increasingly rigorous security reviews, commit to onshoring production, and meet ongoing compliance requirements still have a path into the US market."
A separate FCC announcement on July 21, 2026 made existing Conditional Approvals indefinite rather than expiring at the end of 2026, provided a manufacturer keeps up with its onshoring commitments and continues to pass ongoing vetting. Extensions tied to the Defense Contract Management Agency's Blue UAS Cleared List and to Buy American-compliant domestic end products were pushed out to January 1, 2028. The FCC has also been explicit that approvals aren't permanent grants: they can be revoked if a manufacturer violates its onshoring plan or is found to have supplied false information during the review.
Source
Facts and figures in this entry are drawn from DroneDJ's July 27, 2026 coverage of the FCC's exemption process (updated July 28), cross-referenced against law-firm summaries of the underlying Covered List rulemaking.
Cited on this site as: "FCC Keeps Adding Exemptions to Its Foreign Drone Crackdown," dronedj.com, Jul 27, 2026
DJI and Autel still locked out
None of this reopens the door for the two biggest names shut out by the ban. The exemptions granted so far do not apply to new DJI or Autel drone models, which remain subject to the broader Covered List restrictions; previously authorized DJI products already in the U.S. market can still be sold, but the company cannot obtain FCC authorization for any new covered model under the current rules. Recreational buyers are unlikely to notice much near-term change either way — the newly exempted systems are specialized commercial and industrial equipment, not consumer camera drones.
Separately, the FCC is seeking public comment on whether to prohibit the import and sale of certain military-grade foreign-produced drones already on the Covered List, including swarming drones, thermal-imaging drones, LiDAR-equipped drones, drones weighing more than 55 pounds, docking stations, and other defense-oriented systems — a signal that the agency's next move may tighten rather than loosen the restrictions for that category.
Where this fits on unit.report
What this entry is not: it is not legal advice on FCC import rules and does not itself change any manufacturer's status on the Compliance Tracker. It is a record of the exemption approvals and rulemaking activity reported this week, with figures attributed and sourced.
Once confirmed, this record is not silently rewritten. A later development becomes a new, separately dated entry. Spotted an error? See our correction policy.