Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Drone Reform Act”.
Drone Reform Act
A BILL
To consolidate within the Department of Defense all executive authority regarding the use of armed unmanned aerial vehicles, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Department of Defense executive authority over use of armed unmanned aerial vehicles
DOD executive authority—
Prohibition— No operation involving the use of an armed unmanned aerial vehicle shall be carried out under the authority of a department or agency of the Federal Government other than the Department of Defense.
Use by military personnel— Only uniformed members of the United States Armed Forces may—
operate, or order the operation of, an armed unmanned aerial vehicle; or
operate or fire, or order the operation or firing of, any weapon or other munition carried on an armed unmanned aerial vehicle.
Applicable law— The operation and use of an armed unmanned aerial vehicle shall be subject to the requirements of title 10 of the United States Code.
Rules of construction— Nothing in this section shall be construed—
to limit or expand any authority of any component of the Federal Government to provide advice, including intelligence, to the Department of Defense in support of actions described in paragraph (1) and (2) of subsection (a); or
to create any authority, or expand any existing authority, for the Federal Government to kill any person.
Unmanned aerial vehicle— The term “unmanned aerial vehicle” means an aircraft that is operated without the possibility of direct human intervention from within or on the aircraft. The term includes aircraft referred to as a drone, UAV, unmanned aircraft (UA), unmanned aerial system (UAS), remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), remotely piloted vehicle (RPV), remotely operated aircraft (ROA), and unmanned aerial vehicle system (UAVS).
Effective date— This section shall take effect 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.