We’re proud to announce the release of ArcGIS Flight U.S. Government edition—a version of Esri’s drone mission planning app for federal end-users that meets the federal compliance needs as dictated by the 2023 American Security Drone Act (2023 ASDA).
Why It Was Created
The 2023 ASDA prohibits the use of Chinese-manufactured drones and related components—including mission planning software—in U.S. Government operations. To ensure continued use of Esri's mission planning application for federal government end-users, Esri developed a fully compliant version of the app that excludes all Chinese-made SDKs and Chinese drones, while maintaining full feature parity with the standard ArcGIS Flight app.
What Makes It Different
ArcGIS Flight U.S. Government edition is not a stripped-down alternative—it’s a mission-ready solution built with the same robust capabilities as the original app. The only difference is its compliance profile:
✔️No Chinese SDKs or Chinese hardware
✔️Secure and federally compliant for use in government workflows
✔️Same user experience, same features, different compliance scope
This ensures that federal users can continue leveraging ArcGIS Flight for drone-based data capture, mapping, and inspections.
Supporting Our Users, Not Just the Law
This release isn’t just about meeting legal requirements—it’s about supporting our users. Federal agencies face unique challenges, and Esri is committed to delivering tools that empower them to operate confidently and securely.
What’s Next
➡️Government users should begin transitioning to ArcGIS Flight U.S. Government edition ahead of the December 2025 deadline.
➡️Non-government users can continue using the standard version of ArcGIS Flight without changes.
➡️Esri will maintain a unified release for both versions, ensuring consistent updates and versioning across the applications.
Stay tuned for more updates, and visit the ArcGIS Flight Documentation page and our FAQ to learn more.
