After September 16, 2023, all drones in the US that weigh more than 250 grams or fly under FAR 107 must comply with FAA Part 89 regulation.
The good news is that DJI is cautious with all regulations-related topics, so most of its drones now come with a Remote ID RID.
The DJI drones that comply with the Remote ID regulations include the Mavic 3 Pro Cine, Mavic 3, Inspire 3, and the Mavic Pro Platinum.
Other DJI drones comply with this regulation, which we will cover in this article. We’ll also present an easy-to-digest table where you can search whether your drone complies.
To help, we’ve identified and reviewed the best drone courses for beginners and professionals.
List of DJI drones with RID in April 2023
Model | RID Serial Number | Weight (g) | Status | Compliance Date |
Mavic 3 Pro Cine | 1581F6MK000000000000 to 1581F6MKZZZZZZZZZZZZ | 963 | Accepted | April 24, 2023 |
Mavic 3 Pro | 1581F67Q000000000000 to 1581F67QZZZZZZZZZZZZ | 958 | Accepted | April 24, 2023 |
Inspire 3 | 1581F4Z4000000000000 to 1581F4Z4FFFFFFFFFFFF | 3,995 | Accepted | April 19, 2023 |
Mavic Pro Platinum | 1581F08Q300000000000 to 1581F08Q3FFFFFFFFFFF | 734 | Accepted | January 30, 2023 |
Mini 3 | 1581F5YH000000000000 to 1581F5YHFFFFFFFFFFFF | 249 | Accepted | December 5, 2022 |
M3M | 1581F5FK000000000000 to 1581F5FKFFFFFFFFFFFF | 951 | Accepted | October 28, 2022 |
Mavic 3 Classic | 1581F67P000000000000 to 1581F67PFFFFFFFFFFFF | 895 | Accepted | October 26, 2022 |
Agras T40 | 1581F574000000000000 to 1581F574FFFFFFFFFFFF | 5,000 | Accepted | October 26, 2022 |
Agras T30 | 1581F446000000000000 to 1581F446FFFFFFFFFFFF | 3,650 | Accepted | October 26, 2022 |
M300 RTK | 1581F1ZN000000000000 to 1581F1ZNFFFFFFFFFFFF | 6,300 | Accepted | September 20, 2022 |
M3T | 1581F5FJ000000000000 to 1581F5FJFFFFFFFFFFFF | 920 | Accepted | September 20, 2022 |
M3E | 1581F5FH000000000000 to 1581F5FHFFFFFFFFFFFF | 915 | Accepted | September 20, 2022 |
M30T | 1581F5BK000000000000 to 1581F5BKFFFFFFFFFFFF | 3,770 | Accepted | September 9, 2022 |
M30 | 1581F4BN000000000000 to 1581F4BNFFFFFFFFFFFF | 3,770 | Accepted | September 9, 2022 |
Mavic 3 Cine | 1581F4QZ000000000000 to 1581F4QZFFFFFFFFFFFF | 899 | Accepted | September 9, 2022 |
Mavic 3 | 1581F45T000000000000 to 1581F45TFFFFFFFFFFFF | 895 | Accepted | September 9, 2022 |
Avata | 1581F4QW000000000000 to 1581F4QWFFFFFFFFFFFF | 410 | Accepted | September 9, 2022 |
Air 2S | 1581F3YT000000000000 to 1581F3YTFFFFFFFFFFFF | 595 | Accepted | September 9, 2022 |
Mini 3 Pro | 1581F4XF000000000000 to 1581F4XFFFFFFFFFFFFF | 249 | Accepted | September 9, 2022 |
How to know your drone has Remote ID?
Now you’ve seen which DJI drones comply with the RID rules, but how do you know if your drone serial number is there?
For newer DJI drones like the ones released in 2022, the drone S/N is the same as the RID serial number. If your drone serial number has 20 digits starting with 1581F, then your drone indeed complies.
The Avata serial number always starts at 1581F4QW, the same as the RID serial number.
There are older DJI drones like the Air 2S, whose serial number has 14 digits and doesn’t start with 1581F. This doesn’t mean your Air 2S doesn’t have a RID module. DJI could have installed the RID module with a different serial number.
Let’s take the DJI Air 2S example:
- Pair your drone with the remote controller and mobile device.
- Open the Fly app.
- Go to the camera view and tap the three horizontal dots on the right-upper corner of the screen.
- Go to the About section and scroll down to find the Remote ID SN.
- You will see an alpha-numerical 20-digit code that starts with 1581F3YT, which is the designation for the DJI Air 2S.
That way, you know your drone complies with the FAA Part 89.
You can perform this procedure for every drone on the list if you want to check. It only varies in the app as some use the Pilot 2 or Agras app.
How to activate RID in my DJI drone
DJI released a firmware update to activate RID, so now it’s always active, and you don’t need to do anything.
More importantly, you can’t disable the RID after you update the drone firmware.
How to check if your drone RID is working?
Go to the DJI application you use to fly the aircraft. For some models it’s the Fly app, the Agras app, or the DJI Pilot 2.
After you pair your devices, the RID will always do a self-test on the camera view of your remote controller, mobile device, or goggles. When the RID is in red or displays a red prompt, the RID is not working.
Please check that you have an internet connection and GPS satellites available. If your device still shows the red RID prompt, you should dji customer supp.
» MORE: How to Contact DJI Customer Support
Where did we get the information from the table?
To find the list of DJI drones that comply with RID regulations, we followed these steps:
- Go to this FAA[1].
- Click the Filter by deployable list and choose RID.
- On the search bar you locate on the right portion of the screen, type DJI and press enter.
Now you should see all the DJI models that comply with the RID regulation.
To check the specific data of each model, click the view button right to each drone model.
There you can see data such as the standard on which that specific drone model complies with the regulation and the serial numbers that comply.
Why did DJI install RID in drones that weigh less than 250g?
Drone pilots that lack previous aircraft regulation education tend to dislike the idea of using RID.
Manufacturers produce drones weighing only 1 gram below the required regulation to satisfy those pilots. But it’s more of a sales hook.
In the end, 1 gram is what a lightweight ND filter weighs.
Consider that scales have a margin error of about five percent. Inspectors will measure your drone’s weight on their scales as those have a calibration certification.
So in their scales, your drone can weigh more than 250 grams with a little accessory.
Only two DJI drones weigh less than 250 grams and have a built-in RID module, the Mini 3 and Mini 3 Pro. They don’t need to comply with the FAA Part 89 regulation.
However, that is the total weight of the drone, battery, and SD card. Once you install an ND filter, it makes it compliant with the RID regulation.
Take into account there are voids in the regulation.
If any drone manufacturer produces a drone below that weight or flies only for recreational purposes, it’s compliant-free.
But DJI knows that if an inspector catches you with a Mini 3 with an ND filter, which increases the weight to 251 grams, you will receive a penalty fee.
If you’re filming a free video for your school, you can also get fined, as the inspector can interpret it as a business operation.
That’s why DJI complies with the RID even with these two aircraft.
Intelligent Flight Battery Plus load
Another crucial factor to consider with the Mini 3 Pro is the use of the Intelligent Flight Battery Plus.
It gives us 51 minutes of flight time and 18 km of flying range at the cost of registering our drone because it will weigh 290 grams.
Intended use
The DJI Mini 3 and Mini 3 Pro are capable drones. You can use them to earn some money or do some charity work.
Those situations make these drones RID-compliant, as you use them to provide a service.
Do I have to register my DJI drone RID?
To have a compliant DJI drone with RID is only one part of the equation.
After September 16, 2023, you won’t be able to fly the drones on the list in the US unless you register them.
The reason is that the FAA requires them to be registered by FAA Part 107 or Recreational Flyers, due to their weight or intended use.
As this is an extensive topic, we leave you a complete article in this link for you to read.
Why is it important to know about RID if you are outside the US?
RID isn’t an FAA thing. It’s a safety preventive action.
The idea of RID is to know exactly where your drone is. That way, aviation authorities understand if you are flying unsafely or in places where flying is forbidden.
The US is working to develop all the infrastructure to make this possible by fall 2023. Other territories, such as the UK and EU, have the means to regulate RID too.
In other countries, isn’t mandatory to comply with RID only because they lack the infrastructure, people, or means to control the drones by this regulation.
However, RID will be mandatory for all countries in the near future, as it is an aid to maintain airspace safety.
References:
1. UAS Declaration of Compliance (link)