United States
Most counter-drone advice sells the half you are not allowed to use.
Detection is lawful for private operators. Mitigation is not. The two are sold as one capability, and the difference decides what an organisation may deploy, who has to authorise it, and whether a procurement survives scrutiny. We work on the side of that line an organisation can actually act on.
The line that governs everything else
What a private operator may do
Detection by camera, radar, acoustic sensor, Remote ID and non-intercept radio frequency is lawful for private operators, including venues and critical infrastructure. A site can plan, procure and run detection on its own authority.
What requires an authorised agency
Disrupting, seizing control of, disabling, damaging or destroying an aircraft is reserved to authorised federal agencies, and since 1 July 2026 to state, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement and correctional agencies holding the relevant certification under the SAFER SKIES framework.
Why the distinction keeps being blurred
Detection and mitigation are routinely marketed as one capability. They are two legal regimes. A procurement that does not separate them buys equipment the purchaser may not be permitted to operate, which is an expensive way to discover the rule.
What we cover
Eight areas, spanning private and agency buyers, services and physical product.
- A1 Stadium and venue airspace security Detection coverage for venues and mass-attendance events, and a clear account of which measures a venue operator may deploy itself and which require a federal or certified agency.
- A2 SLTT compliance and certification Working through the two-tier certification framework that state, local, tribal and territorial agencies must satisfy before operating counter-UAS, together with its spectrum, airspace and reporting obligations.
- A3 C-UAS grant support Help with the FEMA Counter-UAS Grant Program, both for the twelve jurisdictions already holding FY2026 awards and for agencies preparing for the FY2027 round.
- A4 Airport UAS response plans The UAS response plan that Part 139 certificated airports must hold in the Airport Certification Manual, and keeping it current as FAA detection and mitigation policy develops.
- A5 Site assessment and design Assessing a facility's exposure from the air and designing detection coverage against it, including where sensors should sit and what they will and will not see.
- A6 Procurement advisory Specification and evaluation support for counter-UAS purchases, including the approved-systems constraints that now govern what an agency is permitted to acquire.
- A7 Detection system integration Connecting detection sensors to command and control and to the security systems a site already operates, so an alert reaches someone able to act on it.
- A8 Passive physical barriers Physical protection against drones using netting, mesh and cages, which sit outside the spectrum and operating-authority rules that constrain everything else in this segment.
Where we stand
This is a new outfit and its evidence is its published analysis rather than a client list. We would rather be judged on whether the work is right than on how long we have been doing it.
We do not resell equipment, hold a product line or take commission from vendors. Where a question falls outside what we can properly do, the answer is that it belongs somewhere else.
Airspace Assurance is a service of Vascoh LLC.
FAQ
▸What does this outfit actually do?
Analysis and advisory work across counter-drone detection, compliance, procurement and funding. We publish our research so it can be judged on its own terms. We have no deployed installations, no agency clients and no certifications held, and we say so rather than implying a track record we have not earned.
▸Do you sell detection equipment?
No. We do not resell, hold a product line or take vendor commission. In a segment where the people who know the technology best are the people selling it, that independence is the only basis on which specification and evaluation advice is worth anything.
▸Can you provide counter-UAS certification or training?
No. Live training runs through the FBI National Counter-UAS Training Center, which holds certification authority; the interim final rule permits other qualified federal providers only under that oversight. Anyone offering independent counter-UAS certification is describing something the rule does not recognise.
▸Which market is this for?
The United States. The regulatory framework, the funding and effectively all of the measurable demand sit there. Roughly 55 per cent of global search interest in this category is US-based, and the rules that govern what may be deployed are US rules.