DJI’s Partial Court Win Over the Pentagon Blacklist, Explained

In the DJI blacklist case, DJI has won a real but limited court victory against the Pentagon’s decision to list it as a “Chinese military company.” On 14 August 2026 the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit sent part of the case back to the lower court. DJI has not been removed from the list, and none of the other US restrictions on DJI products change because of this ruling.

Update (16 October 2026): The FCC has filed the Pentagon’s Section 1709 letters on DJI and says its ban did not rely on them; see what the letters say and DJI’s 2 November deadline.

Update (28 October 2026): A judge has blocked the Pentagon’s Section 4663 lobbyist rule for Alibaba, another 1260H-listed company, but not for DJI. DJI’s own reports show it kept two outside firms and spent $240,000 on lobbying in the third quarter; see what the DJI lobbying filings show.

What the court decided on the DJI blacklist

The case is SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd. v. Department of Defense, No. 25-5367. DJI was appealing a September 2025 district court decision that let the Pentagon keep it on its Section 1260H list.

The appeals court rejected most of DJI’s arguments, including those on due process, alleged government assistance and claims that the Pentagon treated DJI inconsistently compared with other companies. DJI won on one point. The court found there was no publicly stated rationale for the Defense Secretary’s view that DJI contributes to China’s defense industrial base, so the lower court should not have upheld that part of the designation on the unclassified record alone. That issue now goes back to the district court.

So “DJI defeats the US ban” would be the wrong headline. DJI won another chance to fight the blacklist; it has not won removal. DJI itself called the decision a significant step toward correcting what it considers an unjustified designation.

What the Section 1260H list is

Section 1260H requires the Pentagon to identify companies it considers Chinese military companies operating directly or indirectly in the United States. DJI was added in 2022 and has challenged the designation repeatedly. It denies being a military company or controlled by China’s military.

The list is not a consumer ban. It can stop the Department of Defense from contracting with a company, and it carries commercial and reputational costs; DJI says it has lost business because of it. A broader restriction on certain Pentagon purchases through third parties is scheduled to take effect in 2027.

The 2025 district court ruling was already mixed. The court kept DJI on the list but, as DJI later emphasized, found no basis for claims that DJI was owned or controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, affiliated with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in the way alleged, or connected with a military-civil fusion enterprise zone. It upheld the designation on other findings, and the D.C. Circuit has now said one of those remaining findings needs another look.

Why this is not the end of the “DJI ban”

There is no single DJI ban. Several separate actions run at once, and winning one does not cancel the others.

FCC Covered List. In December 2025, foreign-produced drones including DJI’s were added to the FCC’s Covered List, which blocks the new equipment authorizations future products need to enter the US market. Even full removal from the Pentagon list would not take DJI off the FCC list. Different agencies, different legal authority.

The FCC’s new proposal. The FCC is also considering restrictions that could affect future imports and marketing of some previously authorized foreign drones, using criteria such as LiDAR, thermal imaging, agricultural dispensing and drone docks. That is why models like the Air 3S, Mini 5 Pro and Neo 2 have come into the discussion (see the FCC LiDAR proposal update). The court ruling does nothing to that proceeding.

Tariffs. On 13 August the US announced new tariffs on imported drones and components, including a 25% tier relevant to many smaller drones and higher rates for some specialized categories. That affects price, not legality; more in what the tariffs do to DJI prices.

What it means for DJI owners and buyers

If you already own a Mini 5 Pro, Mini 4 Pro, Air 3S, Mavic, Neo, Avata or any other DJI drone, nothing changes. The ruling does not make existing drones illegal, does not disable them, and does not affect whether you can fly under normal FAA rules.

For new models such as the rumored Air 4 and Mini 6 Pro, the obstacle is FCC authorization, not the Pentagon list. Even a complete win in this case would not mean the Air 4 can launch in the US. That question is covered in DJI Air 4 and Mini 6 Pro US availability.

My advice: don’t delay or rush a purchase because of this ruling. If you were going to buy a current model, judge it on availability, price, warranty and support, your use case and the rules that apply to how you fly. The court case won’t move any of those this year.

What happens next in the DJI blacklist case

Update, 22 October 2026: we have found no public ruling from the district court on remand yet, so DJI stays on the list for now. The Pentagon’s case against DJI has surfaced elsewhere: the FCC has put the Pentagon’s letters about DJI into the record of DJI’s Covered List case, while saying it did not rely on them. Here is what those letters mean.

The case returns to the US District Court for the District of Columbia, the court that ruled for the government in September 2025. It has to reconsider the defense-industrial-base question in light of the appeals ruling. There is no date for a final decision. The process could involve more briefing, further evidence, new explanations from the Pentagon, possibly classified material, another district court ruling and another appeal.

Removal is now more plausible than it was after the 2025 loss, but it is not guaranteed. Scrutiny of Chinese technology firms also goes well beyond DJI: the Pentagon’s 1260H list grew to 188 companies in June 2026, and other major Chinese companies have challenged their own designations in court. The ruling may help DJI argue publicly that some US allegations against it lack support, but one court win will not shift Washington’s wider push to reduce reliance on Chinese drone technology.

If the lower court ultimately finds the Pentagon cannot justify the designation, this could become one of DJI’s most important legal wins in the US. For now, DJI has reopened the door without walking through it. This article will be updated if DJI is removed from the list or the lower court issues a new ruling.