DJI Quietly Updates Several Older Drones in One Day, Under an FCC Waiver That Runs Only to 2029

On Oct. 20, DJI posted new firmware for a group of aircraft most owners probably thought the company had stopped updating. The Mini 2, Mini 3 Pro, Mavic Air 2 and Air 2S all got new builds the same day, and so did the newer Air 3S and Neo 2. The release notes are as short as release notes get. For the Mini 2 they say only "Fixed some known issues." and, per DroneXL, the other older aircraft's notes are just as terse.

Taken alone, a bug-fix batch for drones that are roughly four to six and a half years old would be a footnote. It matters because of where these aircraft sit in US law. Since Dec. 22, 2025, foreign-made drones have been on the FCC's Covered List (with some categories later exempted until Jan. 1, 2027). Firmware DJI sends to American owners of these aircraft now depends on a waiver from the Commission's Office of Engineering and Technology (OET). That waiver has an end date, and the end date is not far away.

What shipped

The Mini 2 got the most attention. DroneXL reports that the release moves aircraft firmware to v01.07.0300 and remote controller firmware v04.11.0500, and ships with DJI Fly 1.21.16. DroneDJ confirms the same version numbers and says DJI Fly is listed at 1.21.16 or above on both iOS and Android. DJI's own Mini 2 download center now lists a "DJI Mini 2 - Release Notes" entry dated 2026-10-20. (UASFeed did not read the notes PDF itself.) The same page still offers User Manual v1.4, dated Jan. 10, 2024.

The two outlets disagree on how long the Mini 2 had gone without an update. DroneXL says this is the first Mini 2 firmware since March 2023 and points to DJI's page, which it says lists eight releases between November 2020 and March 2023. DroneDJ dates the previous update to March 2022. DroneXL's count is tied to DJI's own release listing, but the reports conflict, and we could not settle it from the sources available. Either way, the gap was long: both outlets describe it as roughly three and a half years.

According to a second DroneXL report, the other older aircraft got:

Mavic Air 2: v01.01.18.00, its first update since September 2023.
DJI Air 2S: v02.04.28.00, its first update since April 2024.
Mini 3 Pro: v01.00.1000, reported as its first update since July 2024.

DroneXL says each release note lists bug fixes only. DroneDJ says the Mini 2 update isn't a reason to expect new capabilities. The Mini 2 still has a feature it introduced at launch: OcuSync 2.0, which DJI advertised at a 10 km maximum transmission range under FCC conditions.

The regulatory plumbing

The Covered List bars new FCC equipment authorizations. On paper, it also bars many of the changes manufacturers routinely make to devices that are already authorized. The FCC's rules at 47 CFR 2.932(b) and 2.1043(b), revised in late 2025, now exclude Covered List equipment from the procedures that allow permissive changes to authorized equipment. Without relief from those rules, a firmware update to a covered drone could raise authorization problems of its own.

The OET has given that relief in two steps. The first was DA 26-69, issued Jan. 21, 2026, which waived the prohibitions for Class I permissive changes through Jan. 1, 2027. The second was DA 26-454, issued May 8 under ET Docket No. 21-232, which extended and expanded the first. The new waiver runs to at least Jan. 1, 2029 and adds Class II permissive changes. It also covers more than drones. The FCC added foreign-produced routers to the Covered List on March 23, 2026, and the waiver applies to UAS, UAS critical components and routers that were produced abroad and authorized before their addition to the list.

The operative language is narrow. Covered equipment "may at least until January 1, 2029... continue to receive software and firmware updates that mitigate harm to U.S. consumers." DroneXL notes that the Mini 2 is authorized under FCC filing SS3-MT2PD2007, which puts it in that grandfathered population. The OET also said it will recommend that the full Commission consider codifying the waiver through a rulemaking.

Why It Matters

There are three reasons this release is worth more than its one-line changelog.

First, it shows the waiver working in practice. When foreign drones went on the Covered List in December 2025, the obvious worry for owners was that existing aircraft would be frozen at whatever firmware they had that day, with no fixes after that. The Oct. 20 batch is a concrete case of updates actually reaching aircraft authorized before the listing. It covers several product generations, including some that had been quiet for years.

Second, the vague changelog runs into the waiver's wording. The waiver allows updates that "mitigate harm to U.S. consumers," and a bug-fix-only release fits that description easily. Feature additions would be harder to defend under that standard. That may help explain why DroneDJ expects no new capabilities and why the notes are so terse, though that is our inference, not something DJI or the FCC has said. Still, "fixed some known issues" tells owners, and arguably regulators, almost nothing about what changed. Based only on DJI's published notes, nobody can say whether these builds address security, stability, compatibility with the current DJI Fly app, or something else.

Third, the end date is real. "At least until January 1, 2029" sets a minimum, not a guarantee of anything beyond it. The OET has already extended its own waiver once, and it wants the full Commission to consider codifying the policy. But a recommendation to consider a rulemaking does not create a rule. A Mini 2 bought in late 2020 would be more than eight years old by January 2029, so for owners of these aircraft the date may never matter. For anyone weighing a used DJI aircraft today, or for fleet operators still flying Air 2S or Mini 3 Pro units for inspection or media work, that date is the outer edge of the guaranteed support window.

The Mini 2 is a useful test case. DroneXL notes that it is not on DJI's end-of-service list, so the company has not formally retired it. The Oct. 20 release suggests DJI plans to keep using the waiver for aircraft it still supports. How long that lasts depends on two calendars: DJI's product support decisions, and the FCC's choice between letting the waiver lapse, extending it again, or writing it into the rules.

What owners should do

The practical steps are routine. Update DJI Fly to 1.21.16 or later, update both the aircraft and the controller, and keep a record of the firmware version currently installed. DroneXL also advises installing the aircraft and controller files DJI released together, on the same day. The bigger lesson is about planning. Firmware support for Covered List drones in the US now depends on a regulatory permission with a fixed horizon, not just on the manufacturer's goodwill. A quiet bug-fix batch is the best outcome owners can expect under that arrangement, and it is guaranteed only until 2029.