The SAFER SKIES Act, explained
The SAFER SKIES Act gave state, local, tribal and territorial agencies counter-drone authority for the first time, under a two-tier certification framework with obligations that continue after certification.
Key facts
- The SAFER SKIES Act was enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 and signed into law on 18 December 2025.
- The DOJ and DHS interim final rule implementing it took effect on 1 July 2026.
- It authorises state, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement and correctional agencies to conduct counter-UAS operations, which they previously could not lawfully do.
- Certification is two-tier. A Detection and Warning certification covers detecting, identifying, monitoring, tracking and warning. A separate Mitigation certification covers disrupting, seizing control of, disabling, damaging or destroying an aircraft.
- Live training runs through the FBI National Counter-UAS Training Center, which holds certification authority. The rule permits other qualified federal providers only under that oversight, so independent commercial certification does not exist.
- The rule establishes an Authorized Technologies List of approved categories and an Authorized Systems List identifying approved systems at make-and-model level, following multi-agency review by DOJ, DHS, DoD, FAA, FCC and NTIA, maintained through the FBI Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal.
- Agencies operating radio-frequency counter-UAS equipment require FCC authorisation in addition to DOJ and DHS requirements. The FCC has waived marketing and importation restrictions for counter-drone equipment and granted temporary spectrum authority rather than requiring long-form licensing.
What changed
Before December 2025, counter-UAS authority in the United States sat almost entirely with a small number of federal agencies. A county sheriff facing repeated contraband deliveries into a jail yard had no lawful means of stopping them, and a police department watching a drone over a stadium could do little beyond watch.
The SAFER SKIES Act changed that. Enacted within the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act on 18 December 2025 and implemented by a DOJ and DHS interim final rule effective 1 July 2026, it created a route by which state, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement and correctional agencies can lawfully conduct counter-UAS operations.
It is a route, not a grant. Everything depends on the conditions attached.
The two tiers
Tier 1, Detection and Warning, covers detecting, identifying, monitoring, tracking and warning about an unmanned aircraft. An agency must hold this certification before operating.
Tier 2, Mitigation, covers acting on the aircraft: disrupting it, seizing control of it, disabling, damaging or destroying it. It requires a separate certification.
The distinction is not procedural. An agency with Tier 1 certification has no more authority to bring down an aircraft than it had in 2024.
Training is centralised, and that is the bottleneck
Live training runs through the FBI National Counter-UAS Training Center, which retains certification authority even where other qualified federal providers deliver instruction. There is no commercial route to certification.
This matters practically as well as legally. Reporting on the associated funding programme has already flagged training backlogs at the centre alongside equipment lead times. An agency that buys first and queues for training later ends up holding a system it cannot yet lawfully operate.
What may be bought
The rule establishes an Authorized Technologies List of permitted categories and an Authorized Systems List naming approved systems at make-and-model level, after review involving DOJ, DHS, DoD, FAA, FCC and NTIA. Both are maintained through the FBI Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal.
The practical consequence is that a vendor’s claim about its own product is not the thing that determines whether an agency may acquire it. The list is. And because the portal is a law enforcement system, the agency, not its adviser, is the party that can check it.
The obligations that follow
Certification is the beginning of the compliance work rather than the end of it. Agencies face airspace approval requirements, real-time notification to air traffic control, reporting duties for mitigation actions, and privacy protections. Radio-frequency equipment additionally requires FCC authorisation; the FCC has waived marketing and importation restrictions for counter-drone equipment and granted temporary spectrum authority instead of demanding traditional long-form licensing, but the Communications Act continues to apply.
The sequence is what agencies most often get wrong. Certification tier, spectrum position and approved-systems status all constrain the procurement, and discovering that after an award is expensive.
This is a summary, not advice
The framework is recent and takes the form of an interim final rule, so it may change. Where this page describes a statute or a rule, the source document governs. Agencies should confirm the current position for their own circumstances before acting.
Related work
- SLTT compliance & certification Getting through the SAFER SKIES certification framework in force since 1 July 2026.
- C-UAS grant support Applications, and spending awards already held, under the FEMA C-UAS programme.
- Procurement advisory Specification and evaluation against the Authorized Systems List.
FAQ
▸Does the Act let local police shoot down a drone?
Not on the strength of the statute alone. Mitigation requires the second-tier certification, and the first tier covers only detection and warning. An agency holding Detection and Warning certification has no mitigation authority. The Act created a route to that authority; it did not grant it automatically.
▸Does it apply to private companies or venues?
No. The authority runs to state, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement and correctional agencies. A stadium, utility or private facility gains no mitigation authority from it. What private operators may still do, as before, is detect.
▸Can a consultancy provide the required training or certification?
No. Certification authority sits with the FBI National Counter-UAS Training Center, and other providers may only deliver under its oversight. Any offer of independent counter-UAS certification describes something the rule does not recognise. Advisory work around certification is real; issuing the certification is not available commercially.
▸What obligations continue after an agency is certified?
Several, and they are the part most often overlooked at procurement. Airspace approval, real-time notification to air traffic control, reporting of mitigation actions, privacy protections, and continued compliance with the Communications Act for any radio-frequency equipment.