Sponsors
The bill strengthens the ability of federal and local authorities to detect and stop dangerous drones—improving protection for airports and other high‑risk sites—but at the cost of greater surveillance powers, potential interference risks, property seizure authority, and increased public spending.
Travelers, pilots, airport staff, and operators of critical facilities gain stronger protection because FAA and approved local agencies can detect and mitigate UAS threats to airports, stadiums and other high‑risk infrastructure.
State, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement can use approved counter‑UAS tools and receive timely threat information, and can access grant funding and pilot programs to acquire and train on those systems, lowering local barriers to deployment.
FAA and partner agencies must pilot and test counter‑UAS technologies and rules before broad adoption, reducing the risk of unsafe deployments and helping ensure mitigation tools do not unduly interfere with aircraft or airport operations.
Residents, bystanders, and drone operators face increased surveillance and civil‑liberties risks because interception, threat‑information sharing with law enforcement, and expanded counter‑UAS authority could be used beyond narrow threat contexts.
Counter‑UAS operations (radio transmission or electronic mitigation) could disrupt nearby communications, aircraft navigation, or other critical systems, creating safety and economic risks for transportation workers and local communities.
Federal and local taxpayers may face higher costs because purchasing, operating, and legally supporting counter‑UAS capabilities requires equipment, training, and ongoing operations—costs that grants may not fully cover and that could divert local funds from other services.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Allows FAA to conduct and authorize counter‑UAS actions (including interception and disruption), exempts certain laws for authorized actions, and creates pilot programs letting designated state/local/tribal agencies use FAA‑approved counter‑UAS systems.
Introduced February 12, 2026 by Eric Burlison · Last progress February 12, 2026
Authorizes the FAA to detect, track, warn, seize, take control of, disrupt, disable, damage, or destroy unmanned aircraft/systems that pose credible threats to the national airspace or as part of testing and evaluation. It creates privacy limits and record-retention rules, exempts authorized counter-UAS actions from certain federal criminal and communications statutes, and allows sharing non-intercepted threat information with state, local, territorial, and Tribal law enforcement. The bill also requires FAA to run pilot programs that approve and oversee the use of FAA‑approved counter‑UAS mitigation systems by designated state, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies, sets a timeline and numeric caps for designations, and directs FAA to issue permanent policies and regulations based on pilot findings.