SLTT compliance and certification
Working through the two-tier certification framework that state, local, tribal and territorial agencies must satisfy before operating counter-UAS, together with its spectrum, airspace and reporting obligations.
The authority is new, the paperwork is not optional, and the sequence matters. An agency that buys equipment before it understands its certification tier, its spectrum position and its reporting duties tends to end up holding a system it cannot yet switch on.
This is ordinary regulatory onboarding work. What makes it unusual is that the framework is only a few months old, so there is no settled practice to copy and very little institutional memory anywhere to draw on.
Why this is live now
- The SAFER SKIES Act was enacted in the FY2026 NDAA on 18 December 2025; the DOJ and DHS interim final rule took effect on 1 July 2026.
- The rule creates a two-tier structure: a Detection and Warning certification, and a separate Mitigation certification.
- Obligations extend past certification to FCC authorisation, airspace approval, real-time air traffic control notification, mitigation reporting and privacy protections.
- The framework is months old, so no agency has institutional knowledge of it and few advisers do either.
Who this is for
- State, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement agencies
- Departments of correction and individual correctional facilities
- State homeland security offices and administrative agencies
- Agency counsel and grant administrators
What we would do
Analysis and advisory work. We have no deployed installations in this segment and do not imply otherwise.
- A readiness review against the certification requirements an agency must meet before operating
- Mapping the obligations that follow certification, including reporting and notification duties
- Drafting support for the policies and procedures the framework expects an agency to hold
- Sequencing the certification, spectrum and procurement steps so they do not block one another
FAQ
▸Does this give a police department authority to bring down a drone?
Only within the framework and only with the right tier. Detection and Warning covers detecting, identifying, monitoring, tracking and warning. Mitigation, which covers disrupting, seizing control of, disabling, damaging or destroying an aircraft, requires a separate certification. Neither is automatic on the strength of the statute alone.
▸Can you deliver the required training?
No, and nobody outside the framework can. Live training runs through the FBI's National Counter-UAS Training Center, which holds certification authority; the rule permits other qualified federal providers only under that oversight. Anyone offering independent counter-UAS certification is describing something the rule does not recognise.
▸Where does the FCC come into it?
Agencies operating radio-frequency counter-UAS equipment need FCC authorisation alongside the DOJ and DHS requirements. The FCC has provided relief on marketing and importation and granted temporary spectrum authority rather than requiring traditional long-form licensing, but the Communications Act still applies and the position should be confirmed for the specific system.