VDOT Issues Memo Addressing Compliance with 2023 Drone Security Act (ASDA)

In early November, VDOT posted a memo addressing compliance with the Americal Security Drone Act of 2023. The memo confirms the move to prohibit operating or procuring services for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) from “covered foreign entities”. This prohibition takes effect December 22, 2025, and applies to any work that receives federal funding.

Approximately 99% of the UAS models previously used by Virginia consultants and contractors will be prohibited after December 22. When VTCA reached out to industry UAS users this past summer, most firms indicated that they were aware of the upcoming change and either had plans or were developing them to replace their UAS sourcing with compliant systems. According to Keith Paquin, VDOT’s UAS Section Manager, most companies are at least supplementing their UAS resources with American made products or systems that have otherwise been cleared for use by the Department of Defense.

Many of the companies that responded to last summer’s survey also offered questions that have been compiled and shared with VDOT’s UAS Section. Mr. Paquin is continuing to develop answers for those questions, as well as fielding additional questions that relate to compliance with the Act. As soon as those questions/answers are ready for public consumption, they will be posted among UAS Resources at Geospatial Program | Virginia Department of Transportation.