FAQs
- What is Green UAS?
- Can companies progress from Green to Blue if they eventually desire a DoD ATO?
- What are the areas of assessment in Green UAS?
- Who benefits from Green UAS?
- What types of customers would benefit from choosing small UAS that are Green certified?
- How will Green UAS bolster the domestic commercial drone industry?
- Why is this needed?
- Why is AUVSI leading this program?
- Why is AUVSI charging a fee for certification?
- If my drone or component is found not to be in compliance with the Green UAS framework, will our company have the opportunity to remediate?
- What is the remediation process?
- Are third party pen tests that have already been conducted on my drone acceptable as a stand-in for the AUVSI Green UAS tests?
What is Green UAS?
Green UAS is an expanded framework for certification built off the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU)’s Blue UAS certification program but is designed for non-defense and commercial companies looking to verify their compliance with cybersecurity and supply chain standards.
Green UAS cybersecurity and supply chain risk assessments are held to the same standard as those in Blue UAS but also are expanded upon in the Green UAS program. The certification validates commercial small UAS as cyber-secure and will provide a wider variety of secure sUAS than the current Blue 2.0 list to conduct mission sets.
The assessment and certification process is administered by AUVSI – the world’s largest nonprofit for drones and autonomous systems – in collaboration with external partners.
The effort is designed to achieve two goals:
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To support the DoD community by supporting efforts to expand DIU’s Blue UAS with vetted drones that meet the same level of cyber security and supply chain requirements as mandated by Congress in the 2020 and 2022 NDAAs.
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To provide a commercial and non-DoD government pathway to ensure trust in drone security, using robust frameworks and additional areas of assessment not included in Blue UAS, and framework flexibility based on customer demands.
Green UAS compliant components also have the opportunity to opt-in to data sharing with the DIU through AUVSI for a seamless review and consideration for addition to the Blue UAS Framework list.
Can companies progress from Green to Blue if they eventually desire a DoD ATO?
Yes. The program preserves a theoretical, streamlined, and expedient pathway from Green to Blue.
If a Green UAS company gets a DoD sponsor to request their platform and fund the DIU ATO process, the progression to go from Green to Blue will be streamlined and expedited thanks to the already completed Green UAS cyber compliance and supply chain risk assessment reports.
DoD will make the final assessment on whether the compliance report meets DoD requirements and whether an ATO is appropriate or not.
This pipeline will save stakeholders time, money, and other resources as they navigate this process. It will give Green UAS participants a significant advantage in future DoD efforts.
Green UAS compliant components have the opportunity to opt-in to data sharing with the DIU through AUVSI for a seamless review and consideration for addition to the Blue UAS Framework list.
Why is AUVSI leading this program?
AUVSI’s Trusted Cyber Program has been a partner with DIU since 2022, when the two organizations announced a collaboration to build a shared commercial cyber standard.
AUVSI believes a “Green UAS cleared list” is a solution to existing Blue UAS challenges that will serve the domestic UAS community, end-users, and federal partners.
This falls squarely in line with our mission to help drive domestic market demand and provide a more competitive marketplace for all.
AUVSI’s goal is for companies to move through the process and to come out on the other side with the same degree of trust in the system as they would have had they went through that process with DIU directly.
Why is AUVSI charging a fee for certification?
AUVSI, a not-for-profit organization, has invested significant funds into developing the Trusted Cyber Program and the Green UAS certification. The certification fee helps to offset the investments AUVSI has made into this industry service and cover the on-going product costs incurred.
It is AUVSI’s long-term goal to seek out sources of funding – federal, state, local, tribal, private-sector – to offset the costs for our industry, however, at this time and for the foreseeable future, we must charge a small fee to cover our own costs.
If my drone or component is found not to be in compliance with the Green UAS framework, will our company have the opportunity to remediate?
Yes, like the Blue UAS program, if a drone is found to have a deficiency in the security controls assessment or the vulnerability and penetration test, the company will have the option to pause the assessment to address the shortcoming to meet the Green UAS framework and ensure compliance.
What is the remediation process?
Each company can choose to work with the assessor conducting the ongoing assessment or go to an outside cybersecurity vendor, if needed, to address the challenges. If multiple shortcomings are found, companies will only be allowed to restart the assessment process once all areas are addressed. This is to preserve the bandwidth of our assessor teams.
Are third party pen tests that have already been conducted on my drone acceptable as a stand-in for the AUVSI Green UAS tests?
No. Third party assessments can be uploaded for review which may help streamline the process, but we have set forth a standard core evaluation with controls that must be followed to achieve Green UAS and to potentially go from Green to Blue.