New White House Executive Order Signals Acceleration for Drones and eVTOLs
On June 6, 2025, the White House issued a major executive order aimed at unlocking the full potential of drones and electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) in the U.S. The directive—titled “Unleashing American Drone Dominance”—sets in motion a multi-agency mandate to remove regulatory barriers, accelerate domestic manufacturing, and enable widespread Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations.
Below, we outline the key provisions and what they signal for transportation stakeholders.
Policy Summary
FAA Must Enable BVLOS Flights — Fast. The order mandates the FAA to:
Issue a proposed rule within 30 days to enable BVLOS drone flights.
Finalize that rule within 240 days.
Develop new performance-based safety standards and risk frameworks within 180 days.
Lusayin Insight: Long-awaited BVLOS reform could finally enable scalable commercial drone use cases—logistics, agtech, infrastructure monitoring, and emergency response—across diverse geographies.
National eVTOL Pilot Program Launching. The order establishes a 3-year eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, directing the U.S. DOT to:
Solicit applications within 90 days.
Select at least 5 real-world pilot projects within 180 days.
Prioritize projects that enable cargo, emergency, and passenger air mobility.
Lusayin Insight: Early-stage eVTOL operators now have a clear policy path for testing with federal coordination, especially around use cases tied to public benefit and zero-emission mobility.
AI-Powered Certification Processes.The FAA is instructed to:
Deploy AI tools to streamline drone approval processes and automate risk assessments.
Differentiate compliance requirements between crewed and uncrewed aircraft.
Lusayin Insight: AI-based permitting could reduce friction for startups and fleet operators seeking to enter regulated airspace—particularly in time-sensitive or lower-risk applications.
U.S. Manufacturing Prioritized, Foreign Risk Reviewed. Federal agencies must:
Use American-made drones where permitted by law.
Issue a “covered foreign entity” list within 30 days to identify suppliers with national security risks.
Initiate rulemaking within 90 days to secure drone and eVTOL supply chains.
Lusayin Insight: Agencies will likely reduce purchases of drones made by major Chinese manufacturers, opening opportunities for domestic producers—though supply chain readiness remains a key unknown.
Drone Export Strategy and Interagency Promotion. The executive order directs Commerce, State, and Transportation to:
Promote U.S.-made drone exports via diplomatic channels, trade agreements, and federal financing tools.
Develop a unified export strategy that aligns with national interest.
Lusayin Insight: Clearer federal support for drone and eVTOL export pathways could give U.S. startups leverage in emerging international markets—if they can demonstrate reliability and scale.
National Security Directive: Airspace Sovereignty. In parallel, a second order creates a federal task force to:
Detect unauthorized drone activity.
Restrict drone operations over sensitive facilities.
Coordinate enforcement across DOJ, DHS, and FAA.
Lusayin Insight: Expect heightened scrutiny of drone activity near airports, ports, military facilities, and energy infrastructure. Policy is now trending toward more dynamic, tiered airspace governance.
What Comes Next
This is one of the most aggressive policy efforts to date to mainstream commercial drone and eVTOL operations in the U.S. In effect, it reframes advanced air mobility (AAM) as an economic, strategic, and national security imperative—while modernizing the regulatory framework to enable commercial scaling.
For the climate tech and transportation sector, it’s a signal to:
Prepare for near-term BVLOS regulation that will open new project types.
Track eVTOL pilot opportunities tied to cargo and emergency use cases.
Align with agencies reviewing domestic vs. foreign tech sourcing.
Monitor enforcement frameworks as airspace compliance becomes active.
