Transport Ministry proposes scrapping FSB-certified encryption for drones...

Transport Ministry proposes dropping FSB-certified encryption requirement for drones six months after its introduction. The reason: technological and industrial problems

The Transport Ministry has proposed suspending for at least a year and a half requirements introduced in March for drones to have FSB-certified encryption. Verstka found the proposal on the government portal for draft regulations.

The encryption is intended to protect drones against spoofed commands and hijacking. If adopted in its current form, the draft will take effect immediately upon official publication.

“At present, compliance with the requirements of Resolution No. 1701 concerning cryptographic information security tools is difficult for industrial, technological, and organizational and legal reasons. Adoption of the draft resolution will help reduce the risk of restrictions on the operation of unmanned aircraft systems,” the explanatory note says.

The requirements only came into force on March 1, 2026. They stipulate that cryptographic information security tools certified in accordance with FSB requirements must be installed, among other aircraft, on drones weighing between 250 grams and 30 kilograms that fly within the operator's line of sight, and on UAVs that share airfields and landing sites with conventional aircraft.

The day after the requirements appeared, drone manufacturers' association Aeronext said they could not be met because of “legal and technological uncertainties.”

“According to the information available, there is only one such certified solution on the market, and it is hardware-based. For 80–90% of unmanned aircraft registered with Rosaviatsiya, this means it is technically impossible to integrate a hardware cryptographic information security device into their circuitry at the communication-channel level,” the association said.

The association wrote to the authorities about the issue. The Transport Ministry insisted that compliance was mandatory, but added that Aeronext had developed a “draft security threat model.” The association later complained that the authorities had rejected its draft and ignored its appeals.

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