The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will require, effective February 23, that all small drones have their registration number clearly displayed on the outside as a means of more easily identifying their owners. This move follows on from 2015 FAA rules that require the registration of all drones before they can be flown and that they have their registration number easily accessed via the battery compartment or other similar location.
According to Reuters, the FAA is acting on the request of law enforcement and the FAA's security partners “regarding the risk a concealed explosive device poses to first responders who must open a compartment to find the small unmanned aircraft's registration number.”
Concerns about drone ID numbers were first received by the FAA in December 2016 from law enforcement but lawsuits challenging the drone registration rules delayed any subsequent action. The agency said if it did not act quickly that “first responders could be exposed to additional risk during the notice and comment period as a result of the attention drawn to the vulnerability.”
There are approximately 1.3 million registered drones in the United States with over 116,000 registered drone operators and hundreds of thousands of additional drones that are not registered. Last year Congress gave the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security new powers to disable or destroy threatening drones after officials raised concerns about the use of drones as potential weapons.
