Regulatory Alert: President Trump Issues Executive Orders to Promote New Entrants and Drone Security
June 6, 2025
This afternoon, President Trump issued three executive orders aimed at addressing safety and security concerns associated with unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or drones, and promoting the integration and development of UAS, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, and supersonic aircraft into the National Airspace System (NAS).
The orders include a slew of directives to federal agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to take specific actions to achieve both goals, including (a) providing drone manufacturers and state and local governments with more tools to address drone threats; (b) creating a new pilot program that uses public-private partnerships to accelerate eVTOL operations and advanced air mobility (AAM); and (c) repealing the existing ban on supersonic flight over land and allowing these flights to occur in accordance with interim noise standards to be developed by FAA.
Additional details on the three executive orders are provided below. AAAE will be closely tracking several of the directives and engaging with the administration on implementation. You can read the orders on improving UAS security (here), accelerating drone and eVTOL use (here), and advancing supersonic flight (here).
Counter-UAS Systems and Drone Security. The first order, “Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty,” directs a range of federal agencies to take actions to protect the public and critical infrastructure from safety and security threats posed by drones. Actions that pertain to airports include:
- Assessment for Further Protection of Large Airports: The order directs DHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ), in coordination with the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Transportation (DOT), to submit a recommendation to President Trump on whether “large airports,” among other types of critical infrastructure, should receive additional security protection using existing authority that Congress provided to DHS, DOJ, and DOD to detect and mitigate drones near certain facilities and assets. The recommendation must be submitted within 60 days.
- Sharing Remote Identification (ID) Data: The order directs FAA to provide, to the extent permitted by the law, “automated real-time access to personal identifying information associated with UAS remote [ID] signals” to the appropriate federal agencies and state, local, tribal, and territorial agencies for the purpose of enforcing applicable federal or state laws. Last year, an FAA final rule on remote ID requirements fully went into effect. The rule requires UAS pilots to operate a drone with remote ID capabilities, broadcasting certain information about the pilot and drone, including location, except in limited circumstances.
- Promoting Drone Geofencing: The order requires FAA to make freely available online Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) and Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) “in an open format easily accepted for drone geofencing and Aircraft Navigation and Guidance system purposes.” FAA must comply by December 2025. Releasing NOTAM and TFR data in an open format should make it easier for manufacturers to incorporate this data into their drones’ software. This would create a virtual fence (geofence) that could help prevent drone users from operating in areas identified by a NOTAM or TFR.
- Grant Program Eligibility for Counter-UAS Systems: Within 30 days, DOJ and DHS must ensure that their respective departments’ grant programs permit, consistent with the law, “eligible State, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) agencies to receive grants to purchase UAS or equipment or services for the detection, tracking, or identification of drones and drone signals.” Based on the order, it is unclear what, if any, grant programs may be available for airport operators.
- Enforcing Civil and Criminal Laws Against Unlawful Drone Operators: The order directs DOJ to coordinate with FAA to take appropriate steps to ensure “full enforcement” of applicable civil and criminal laws when drone operators endanger the public, violate established airspace restrictions, or operate a drone as part of another crime.
- Task Force to Restore American Airspace Sovereignty: The order establishes a new “Federal Task Force to Restore American Airspace Sovereignty” (Task Force), which will be chaired by the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and include any appropriate executive departments and agencies. The Task Force, which should include DHS and FAA as participants, is required to propose solutions to UAS threats and make recommendations on the implementation of all actions required by the executive order issued today.
eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP). A second order, “Unleashing American Drone Dominance,” directs FAA to establish an eIPP to accelerate the deployment of eVTOL operations in the United States. The program is modeled after a similar program that FAA created in 2020, known as BEYOND, which used public-private partnerships to address challenges associated with enabling more routine beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) UAS operations. The order provides several key details regarding the eIPP:
- Eligibility to Participate: FAA may only receive proposals to participate in the eIPP from state, local, tribal, and territorial governments. These public entities may only submit a proposal if they have a private sector partner with experience in eVTOL aircraft development, manufacturing, and operations.
- Selection Criteria: FAA will select at least five pilot projects using selection criteria that includes, at a minimum, (a) the use of eVTOL aircraft and technologies from a U.S.-based entity; (b) overall representation of economic and geographic operations and proposed models of public-private partnership; and (c) overall representation of the operations to be conducted, including AAM, medical response, cargo transport, and rural access.
- Timeline: FAA must issue the request for proposals from state, local, tribal, and territorial governments no later than September 4, 2025, and provide a 90-day window for these entities to respond. FAA must select a minimum of five pilot projects to participate in the eIPP by March 3, 2026.
Integration of Drones into the NAS. The same order, “Unleashing American Drone Dominance,” includes two other notable directives aimed at accelerating the integration of UAS into the NAS:
- BVLOS UAS Operations: Within the next 30 days, FAA must release a proposed rule that would enable routine BVLOS UAS operations for commercial and public safety purposes. FAA was also directed to ensure that a final rule on BVLOS operations is issued by February 2026. The drone community has been anxiously awaiting FAA to release a proposed rule for several years, and this remains one of the industry’s top priorities.
- Updated FAA UAS Integration Roadmap: The order also requires FAA to publish an updated roadmap for the integration of civil UAS into the NAS by February 2026. The last edition of the UAS integration roadmap was released in 2020.
- Repealing the Prohibition on Overland Supersonic Flight: FAA is required to conduct the necessary rulemaking to repeal the prohibition on overland supersonic flight by December 2025. In addition, the FAA must establish an “interim noise-based certification standard” while the agency conducts the necessary rulemaking to develop the noise certification standards for supersonic aircraft.
- Developing Supersonic Aircraft Noise Certification Standards: FAA must issue a proposed rule that would establish noise certification standards for supersonic aircraft during takeoff, landing, and enroute supersonic operations. FAA must conduct the rulemaking and issue a final rule by June 2026. The directive revives an initiative that the first Trump administration began in 2020 when it released proposed noise standards for supersonic aircraft. AAAE and a number of airports commented on the proposal, which was deprioritized under the Biden administration.
