DJI Warns BVLOS NPRM Might Exclude Its Platforms — With Huge Implications for Customers
DJI’s Viewpoints: Help for BVLOS, however Exclusion Considerations
In a latest Viewpoints weblog put up, DJI welcomed the FAA’s proposed Half 108 regulation for Past Visible Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations, calling it an necessary step towards enabling scalable drone operations. However the firm warned that, as presently drafted, the rule would exclude a lot of right now’s most generally used platforms, together with DJI plane.
DJI factors to 2 primary points within the FAA’s draft:
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Nation of manufacture limitations. Airworthiness acceptance would solely be out there to U.S. producers or to these lined by a bilateral airworthiness settlement—agreements that don’t presently exist for unmanned plane. That successfully disqualifies DJI drones.
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Overemphasis on automation. The draft framework favors extremely automated plane and will prohibit pilot-in-the-loop operations, sidelining lots of the methods in use right now.
The corporate additionally raised issues about limits on 2.4/5.8 GHz C2 hyperlinks, new reporting burdens, and the potential return of site-specific approvals that Half 108 was meant to interchange. DJI urged operators and companies to submit feedback to the FAA docket earlier than October 6, 2025.
What Half 108 Proposes
The FAA’s BVLOS NPRM, launched in August, outlines a brand new framework to interchange case-by-case waivers with a nationwide system of permits (for lower-risk operations) and working certificates (for higher-risk missions). The rule is designed to develop drone use in inspections, agriculture, public security, and supply whereas sustaining security within the Nationwide Airspace System.
For the FAA, Half 108 sits between Half 107 and conventional plane certification: a steadiness between innovation and oversight. However the particulars of eligibility—significantly airworthiness acceptance—are among the many points which have sparked debate.
Why DJI’s Exclusion Issues
Whereas most massive supply corporations, resembling Zipline, Wing, and Amazon, function their very own proprietary plane, DJI platforms dominate the fleets of first responders, small companies, and infrastructure operators.
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Market share. DJI nonetheless controls an estimated two-thirds or extra of the U.S. business drone market.
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Public security reliance. Fireplace departments, police companies, and search-and-rescue groups throughout the nation rely upon DJI’s Matrice, Mavic, and different platforms for situational consciousness, catastrophe response, and emergency assist.
If DJI drones are excluded from Half 108 approvals, these customers may very well be blocked from conducting routine BVLOS operations with the platforms they already personal and prepare on. For resource-constrained public companies, changing complete fleets with various methods may very well be prohibitively costly and disruptive.
Different Business Views
DJI is just not alone in elevating issues.
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AUVSI has argued that the NPRM doesn’t present a transparent transition path for operators already flying BVLOS underneath waivers.
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The Business Drone Alliance praised the FAA for transferring ahead however emphasised that broad operator entry is important if Half 108 is to scale the trade.
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Stakeholders at latest summits flagged the danger that an excessive amount of emphasis on superior automation might sluggish adoption in sectors the place less complicated BVLOS operations—like linear inspection or shielded flights—are already secure and efficient.
What Comes Subsequent
The FAA will now collect feedback earlier than finalizing the rule. The central debate can be whether or not airworthiness acceptance needs to be based mostly on efficiency and requirements compliance—or on nation of origin.
For DJI, and for hundreds of first responders and business operators within the U.S., the end result might decide whether or not their present plane stay viable for BVLOS.
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Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, knowledgeable drone providers market, and a fascinated observer of the rising drone trade and the regulatory surroundings for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles centered on the business drone house and is a global speaker and acknowledged determine within the trade. Miriam has a level from the College of Chicago and over 20 years of expertise in excessive tech gross sales and advertising and marketing for brand new applied sciences.
For drone trade consulting or writing, E mail Miriam.
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