July 16, 2025 - (Mountain View, CA) - In his July 10, 2025 memo, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth put forth a plan for “Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance,” with a goal to eliminate barriers to purchase and train with emerging UAS technology. In support of Secretary’s intent to move at speed and scale, and President Trump’s Executive Order and the requirement tto expand the Blue List within 90 days, DIU is announcing several updates and continued efforts to provide pathways onto the Blue UAS Cleared List to accelerate trusted drone capabilities to the warfighter. DIU looks forward to the immediate impact of these changes, and to partnering with the Undersecretary of Acquisition and Sustainment (A&S) DCMA team and others across the Department to scale the Blue List into the future. These improvements will help meet warfighter needs with the focus, speed, and scale required, and will help catalyze the growing industry that is rising to meet that need.
Select updates include:
Green UAS certification leveraged to expand the Blue UAS Cleared List: Building on its existing data sharing agreement with the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), DIU is recognizing Green UAS certification as an authorized pathway to achieving Blue UAS Cleared status. Effective immediately, drone platforms that have successfully completed the Green UAS certification process will be added to the Blue UAS Cleared List. This decision aligns with recent policy actions, including Executive Order 14307 “Unleashing American Drone Dominance,” and the Secretary of Defense’s July 10 memorandum by continuing to expand the number of compliant platforms available to warfighters.
Initial cohort of Recognized Assessors identified: To further streamline access to secure, NDAA-compliant drones by adding pathways to support the expansion of the Blue UAS Cleared List and Framework, DIU will continue efforts to build Multi-stakeholder partnerships of Recognized Assessors (RA) that can provide third-party assessments of platforms or components. These RAs will be prepared to receive platforms or components for assessment by September 2025. MTSI, Dark Wolf Solutions, and AUVSI form the initial cohort of Recognized Assessors. DIU, in partnership with representatives from the Services, SOCOM, and partners in A&S, will continue to evaluate RA candidates and announce additional members to join the RA cohort.
Blue UAS website updated to reflect new designations: Not only has the Blue UAS website been updated to reflect the immediate expansion of the Blue UAS Cleared List to include Green UAS Certified platforms, the site now delineates the distinction between "Blue UAS Cleared" and "Blue Select.” Blue UAS Select are those platforms that have been either competitively selected, or sponsored by a Service or CCMD and have received an authority to operate (ATO).
Blue UAS Checklist: DIU is working closely with the Deputy Secretary of Defense’s office to finalize a Blue UAS Checklist that will facilitate the Blue UAS certification pathways laid out in the SECDEF memo. Empowered Agencies, general officers, flag officers, and members of the Senior Executive Service will be able to certify UAS platforms, components, and software using the checklist. DIU will make the checklist available on or before August 1, 2025.
Blue UAS Website and Management: The plan to transition the Blue UAS Cleared List website and management to DCMA by the end of 2025 is underway. Instructions for how to gain certification, documentation needed, and coordination through the Services and Components will be published by the end of the month. DIU is looking forward to working with the A&S team and with partners across the Department to continue to scale the use of drones for training and concept development in order to provide the needed tools for our warfighters to have dominance in any fight.