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ARTICLE · 05 AUGUST 2026

The FCC's Covered List

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The Federal Communications Commission has dramatically expanded its "covered list" of equipment deemed a national security risk, moving beyond individual companies to ban entire categories of foreign-produced devices including drones, routers, power inverters, and advanced robots. This shift creates a de facto market-entry ban for new device models in these categories, fundamentally altering how manufacturers can access the US market. Companies now face complex conditional approval processes through the Dep

United StatesMedia, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment
Andrew Golodny
Andrew Golodny
Jeffrey G. Weiss
Jeffrey G. Weiss
Christopher Bjornson
Christopher Bjornson

The Federal Communications Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau has updated its "covered list" of equipment deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to US national security to include four broad categories of consumer and commercial devices:

  • Drones. Uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) and UAS critical components produced in a foreign country (Public Notice, DA 25-1086, released December 22, 2025). The definition of critical components includes data-transmission devices, communications systems, flight controllers, ground-control equipment, navigation systems, sensors and cameras, batteries and battery-management systems, motors, and associated software.
  • Routers. Consumer-grade routers produced in a foreign country (Public Notice, DA 26-278, released March 23, 2026). 

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