Drone News Roundup: What’s Next after FCC Bans New Foreign-Made Drones, DJI Avata 360 Leaks, and More!

This week we’re covering what happens next after the FCC effectively banned all new foreign-made drones at the end of last year.

We’re also covering leaks of DJI’s Avata 360, a Stranger Things drone light show over Las Vegas, a drone-assisted train theft arrest, and a drone delivering a life jacket during a dangerous flood rescue.

Now let’s get to those links!

The FCC Has Effectively Banned All New Foreign-Made Drones—What Happens Now?

The DJI Mini 5 Pro can still be imported to the U.S.—but future DJI models will be blocked

At the end of last year, the FCC effectively banned all new drones made in foreign countries. The word new is key here. If a drone already has FCC approval—for example, the DJI Mini 5 Pro or the DJI Mavic 4 Pro—then it can still be imported. But a future Mini 6 or Mavic 5 won’t be able to get FCC authorization, which means they won’t be able to get imported.

Crucially, it’s not just DJI that’s impacted. All new foreign drones are blocked. If Flyability makes an Elios 4, it would also be automatically blocked from entering the U.S. That being said, it seems likely the FCC will create pathways for non-Chinese companies to pursue exemptions so they can bring their drones into the country, though it’s still unclear what that process will look like.

For the short term, nothing changes. Foreign drone companies can still import any drones that have FCC approval, so DJI and others will continue importing approved drones for as long as inventories and parts allow. But eventually innovation in the U.S. market will slow as new platforms are locked out. Over time, the inability to import new components could become just as significant as the ban on new drones themselves, since repairs, replacements, and manufacturing updates depend on FCC-regulated radios and electronics.

While the FCC’s new policy is framed as a move toward security and domestic manufacturing, the reality is that most U.S. drone companies still rely heavily on Chinese-made components. Until the drone supply chain changes, the FCC’s action risks freezing large parts of the drone ecosystem in time—limiting choice, slowing technical progress, and creating uncertainty for operators who depend on continual hardware improvements to stay competitive.

LEARN MORE

DJI Avata 360 Price, Launch Details Leaked

Credit: Igor Bogdanov of @Quadro_News

DJI registered the Avata 360 with the FCC late last year, making it one of the last DJI drones to get FCC approval before the ban on new foreign-made drones went into effect. The Avata 360 is DJI’s response to the Antigravity A1—a compact FPV-style airframe with DJI’s new Osmo 360 camera natively embedded. It looks like the Avata 360 will be compatible with the DJI RC 2 remote controller, and its price was recently leaked in China as 2,988 yuan, or about $425. However, that price could be much higher in the U.S. due to tariffs and other pressures on importing DJI drones. Either way, we should know the exact price soon—according to leaks, DJI plans to launch the Avata 360 this month.

LEARN MORE

Stranger Things Drone Light Show Takes Over Las Vegas

A massive drone light show lit up the Las Vegas skyline recently to promote the season finale of Stranger Things. The lightshow used 5,000 drones and pyrotechnics to light up the sky. It also included a surprise appearance by Jamie Campbell Bower, the actor who plays Vecna, the show’s villain. The display was a reminder of how far drone light shows have come—combining precise choreography, tight airspace coordination, and visual storytelling at a scale that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.

LEARN MORE

Drone Helps Police Catch Thieves Stealing from a Moving Train

Police in Chicago used a drone to help track and arrest three suspects accused of stealing packages from a moving freight train on the city’s South Side. Officers used the drone to follow the suspects as they jumped from the train, fled on foot through nearby neighborhoods, and were ultimately located and taken into custody behind a residence where stolen packages had been tossed.

LEARN MORE

Drone Delivers Life Jacket During Flood Rescue

A first responder drone delivered a life jacket to a man stranded on top of his car amid fast-rising floodwaters in King County, Washington. The drone, operated by the King County Sheriff’s Office, was deployed near Fall City when crews deemed it too dangerous to approach on foot due to strong currents from the Snoqualmie River and rapidly worsening conditions. Responders lowered the life jacket directly from the air, stabilizing the man until a NAS Whidbey Island helicopter completed a hoist rescue.

LEARN MORE

Make sure to sign up for our free weekly newsletter using the button below so you can get our weekly newsletter every Saturday, with this roundup and our other featured stories from the week.