Electronic Conspicuity: What It Means for Drones and Part 108

What is electronic conspicuity?

Electronic conspicuity (EC) means an aircraft broadcasts its position electronically so other aircraft, including drones, can detect it. In the FAA's proposed Part 108 rule, it decides right-of-way at low altitude: a Part 108 drone would have to yield to crewed aircraft broadcasting with ADS-B Out or a qualifying EC device, while non-broadcasting crewed aircraft would have to yield to the drone in most places. As of October 4, 2026 this is a proposal, and more than half of the public comments on Part 108 discussed it.

Electronic conspicuity sounds like a niche avionics term. Under the FAA's proposed Part 108 rule, it is the question that decides who gets out of whose way below 400 feet, and it is the only part of the proposal the FAA reopened for public comment.

This guide explains what electronic conspicuity means, what the Part 108 proposal would accept as electronic conspicuity, how it relates to ADS-B Out rules that already exist, and what it would mean for drone operators and crewed pilots. Everything here comes from the proposed rule text, the FAA's January 2026 reopening notice, and current regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations.

What electronic conspicuity means

An aircraft is electronically conspicuous when it transmits its own position so that others can detect it without seeing it. The familiar example is ADS-B Out, which most aircraft must carry in busy airspace. Electronic conspicuity is the broader category: any approved broadcast that makes an aircraft detectable.

For drones, this matters because a drone flying beyond visual line of sight has no pilot looking out the window. It can only avoid aircraft it can detect, either because those aircraft broadcast their position or because the drone has sensors that find them anyway. Our detect and avoid guide covers the sensing side.

Electronic conspicuity is different from Remote ID. Remote ID is how drones broadcast their own identity and location, mainly for security and accountability. Electronic conspicuity, in the Part 108 debate, is about crewed aircraft making themselves visible to drones.

Why it matters: the Part 108 right-of-way proposal

Today, drones give way. Under Part 107, "each small unmanned aircraft must yield the right of way to all aircraft" (§107.37), a rule the FAA can waive case by case (§107.205).

The Part 108 proposal would change that for BVLOS operations, one of several differences covered in our Part 108 vs Part 107 comparison.

Outside shielded areas (§108.205), proposed §108.195(a) would require a Part 108 drone to yield to aircraft departing from or arriving at an airport or heliport, and to aircraft "equipped and broadcasting their aircraft's location" using ADS-B Out or approved electronic conspicuity equipment. The FAA's BVLOS fact sheet sums it up: drones "would yield to all manned aircraft broadcasting their position using ADS-B."

The matching amendment to the crewed-aircraft right-of-way rule, proposed §91.113(h), goes further. It says a Part 108 drone "has the right-of-way over other aircraft in flight unless" that aircraft is:

1. Operating in a Category 5 population density area
2. Operating in Class B or C airspace
3. Departing from or arriving at an airport or heliport
4. Equipped and broadcasting its location with ADS-B Out or qualifying electronic conspicuity equipment

In plain terms, a crewed aircraft flying low in most airspace without ADS-B Out or an EC device would have to yield to a Part 108 drone. The FAA's own reopening notice reported that "more than half of the approximately 3,100 comments received to the NPRM discussed the right-of-way proposal in some capacity."

What counts as electronic conspicuity under Part 108

The proposal is specific. Under §108.195(a)(2), a crewed aircraft keeps its right-of-way over a Part 108 drone if it broadcasts its location using either:

• ADS-B Out equipment that meets the design and performance requirements of §91.227, or
• Electronic conspicuity equipment that broadcasts on the Universal Access Transceiver (UAT) frequency of 978 MHz, in a message format meeting §91.227, with the elements below

Two details stand out. First, the EC option is limited to the 978 MHz UAT frequency, not 1090 MHz. Second, the anonymity exception is narrow: a temporary self-assigned address only works when the pilot has not filed a flight plan or requested ATC services.

When yielding, the drone may not pass over, under or ahead of the other aircraft unless at a safe distance, determined by a method acceptable to the FAA (§108.195(b)).

How this relates to ADS-B Out rules today

ADS-B Out is already required in much of the busiest U.S. airspace. Under 14 CFR 91.225, aircraft need it in:

• Class A airspace (18,000 feet MSL up to FL 600), where only 1090 MHz equipment qualifies (§91.225(a))
• Class B and Class C airspace
• Within 30 nautical miles of listed major airports, from the surface up to 10,000 feet MSL (the Mode C veil)
• Above the ceiling and within the lateral boundaries of Class B or C airspace, up to 10,000 feet MSL
• Class E airspace in the 48 contiguous states and DC at and above 10,000 feet MSL, excluding airspace at and below 2,500 feet above the surface
• Class E airspace at and above 3,000 feet MSL over the Gulf of Mexico, out to 12 nautical miles from the U.S. coastline

Aircraft originally certificated without an engine-driven electrical system, such as balloons and gliders, have exceptions (§91.225(e)). The FAA's ADS-B program page explains how the system works.

The gap is low altitude outside those areas. In most Class G airspace and low-altitude Class E airspace, §91.225 does not require ADS-B Out, and that low-altitude airspace is exactly where Part 108 drones would operate. Our types of airspace guide covers where each class begins and ends.

Drones are mostly kept off ADS-B Out. Small drones under Part 107 may not transmit ADS-B Out unless the FAA authorizes it (§107.53), and the Part 108 proposal says that, unless the FAA authorizes otherwise, operations must not be conducted with ADS-B Out or a transponder in transmit mode (§108.160). The exception is an unmanned aircraft flying under a flight plan in two-way contact with ATC, which §91.225(h) requires to carry ADS-B Out.

The portable EC device the FAA plans

The FAA considered requiring ADS-B Out for all crewed operations below 500 feet, "but decided that was not tenable due to the additional cost and burden that would impose" (90 FR 38245). Instead, the proposal describes a cheaper option.

According to the NPRM, the FAA "plans to define new requirements for a portable low-cost electronic conspicuity (EC) device that could be used by manned aviation operators solely to retain right-of-way over a part 108 UA." The FAA described it this way:

• It could take the form of a new Technical Standard Order or another FAA-approved specification
• It would be battery-powered and easy to move between aircraft, so an owner of several aircraft or a renter would only need one
• It could use its own antenna or an external one
• It would be usable in fixed-wing aircraft, rotorcraft, balloons and ultralight vehicles, without expensive installation
• It would not need to meet the full §91.227 requirements for ADS-B Out, only make the aircraft visible to drones

The FAA also considered letting crewed pilots broadcast position over a network connection, such as a phone app, but said research into it "has not yet occurred" and the concept was too new to propose. It noted that Section 906 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 requires a Comptroller General study of how drones could detect and avoid crewed aircraft flying below 500 feet without a transponder or ADS-B Out.

What the FAA asked in January 2026

On January 28, 2026 the FAA reopened comments for 14 days, limited to electronic conspicuity and right-of-way. Before that, on January 6, 2026, it held two listening sessions with drone manufacturers and industry associations.

The FAA summarized the original comments this way. Commenters said the proposal "would introduce unnecessary complexity to right-of-way," and "numerous commenters also raised significant practical concerns with requiring manned aircraft to yield to UA." Many supported wider use of ADS-B Out or alternate EC, with "great interest in portable, lower-cost alternate EC devices." A smaller group opposed new equipment requirements for crewed aircraft.

The seven questions the FAA asked all focus on making EC practical: which devices exist today and who makes them, whether they match ADS-B Out, how fast they could reach the U.S. market, whether the §91.227 performance requirements fit, whether the RTCA DO-282C standard would work, whether devices should warn pilots when they fail, and what other technologies could make crewed aircraft detectable. Comments closed February 11, 2026. Our Part 108 NPRM tracker lists the questions in full.

What it means for drone operators

If the final rule keeps this structure, every Part 108 aircraft would need to be able to avoid the aircraft it must yield to: those departing from or arriving at an airport or heliport, and those broadcasting ADS-B Out or EC (§§108.195, 108.825). Detecting aircraft that are not broadcasting would be required only in Class B and C airspace and over Category 5 population areas (§§108.180(b), 108.185(d)(5)(ii)).

On the crew side, the flight coordinator would have to act to keep the aircraft from posing an undue hazard to other aircraft (§108.310(d)). Our Part 108 drone license guide covers how that role is qualified.

That has three practical consequences:

1. Detecting broadcasting aircraft is the baseline. Every Part 108 aircraft would need the capability to avoid the aircraft it must yield to (§108.825). In practice that points to receiving ADS-B and 978 MHz broadcasts, though the proposal names no technology. Strategic deconfliction through the unmanned traffic management layer is added in controlled airspace and over Category 3 or higher areas (§108.190). The Part 108 requirements checklist covers the rest of the equipment list.
2. Non-cooperative detection is limited to the hardest areas. Detecting non-broadcasting aircraft, with whatever sensor the operator chooses, would be required only in Class B and C airspace and Category 5 areas, not everywhere. Category 5 flights need an operating certificate, as our Part 108 permitted operations guide explains. The proposal does not mandate a specific technology.
3. This is the least settled part of the proposal. The FAA reopened comments only on this topic. Hold off on buying detect-and-avoid hardware against the proposed text until the final rule settles it.

Until Part 108 is final, nothing changes for current operations. Under Part 107 and under a BVLOS waiver or Section 44807 exemption, the drone yields to all crewed aircraft. Section 44807 itself says it does not give a drone "the right of way over a manned aircraft."

What it means for crewed pilots

For pilots of agricultural aircraft, helicopters and other low-level operations, the proposal raises a direct question: equip, or yield.

Under proposed §91.113(h), a crewed aircraft flying outside Class B and C airspace and outside Category 5 areas, and not departing from or arriving at an airport or heliport, would keep right-of-way over a Part 108 drone only if it broadcasts with ADS-B Out or a qualifying EC device. Without either, the pilot would have to yield to the drone.

The proposal also lets Part 108 drones fly in shielded areas, such as within 50 feet of power lines, substations, railroad tracks, bridges and pipelines with the owner's permission, where crewed aircraft are not expected to operate (§108.205). Those are the same low-altitude environments where utility inspection drones would work.

None of this is final. The FAA has not published the portable EC specification, and the right-of-way rules may change in the final rule.

Frequently asked questions

Is ADS-B Out the same as electronic conspicuity?

ADS-B Out is one form of electronic conspicuity. The Part 108 proposal accepts either full ADS-B Out meeting §91.227, or a separate EC device broadcasting on 978 MHz with a defined set of position and integrity data (§108.195(a)(2)).

Do drones need ADS-B Out?

Generally no. Part 107 bars drones from transmitting ADS-B Out unless the FAA authorizes it (§107.53), and the Part 108 proposal would bar ADS-B Out and transponder transmission during Part 108 operations unless the FAA authorizes it (§108.160). The narrow exception is an unmanned aircraft flying under a flight plan in two-way contact with ATC, which must carry ADS-B Out (§91.225(h)). Drones identify themselves through Remote ID instead.

Will crewed aircraft be required to carry an EC device?

Not under the proposal. The FAA considered requiring ADS-B Out below 500 feet and rejected it as too costly. Instead, carrying ADS-B Out or an EC device would be how a crewed aircraft keeps its right-of-way over Part 108 drones. Without one, the pilot would have to yield in most low-altitude airspace.

When will the electronic conspicuity rules be final?

They will arrive with the Part 108 final rule, which has been under White House review since July 10, 2026, with no publication date. The FAA has said it plans to define requirements for a portable EC device, but has not published that specification.

Ready to plan BVLOS operations around the final rules?

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Sources and references

Official documents this guide is based on:

• Federal Register: Normalizing Unmanned Aircraft Systems Beyond Visual Line of Sight Operations (proposed rule, 90 FR 38212)
• Federal Register: Reopening of comment period on electronic conspicuity and right-of-way (91 FR 3695)
• Federal Register: Denial of request to extend the reopened comment period (91 FR 5880)
• 14 CFR 91.225: ADS-B Out equipment and use (eCFR)
• 14 CFR 91.227: ADS-B Out equipment performance requirements (eCFR)
• 14 CFR Part 107: Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (eCFR)
• FAA BVLOS fact sheet
• FAA: Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B)