From January 1, 2024, drones must be provided with a CE marking with a class indication in accordance with European regulations. Which devices already have a class indication? The list, at the beginning of July 2023, was still short. But it should be enhanced with many models as the end of 2023 approaches... The list below indicates the models for which I have been able to check the presence of the class icons, or for which the manufacturers have assured me that they have taken the steps to ensure compliance with the class mentioned.
What are drone classes for?
Each class categorizes a drone according to its dangerousness. This makes it possible to know what it is possible to do, and the possible restrictions to respect. To understand everything, head to the “simplified” summary of drone regulations in 2023 and the forecasts for the future (see here).
Updated November 23, 2023
Beware of false class mentions!
Some manufacturers have communicated on class indications, such as Yuneec (see here) or Snapchat, when they weren't ready. Others indicated a class without having met the regulatory requirements (see here), sometimes by a little excess of marketing optimism. EASA has published a document indicating the DJI Mini 2 SE, Mini 3, Mini 3 Pro in C0 – this is not Administrative staff still the case! DJI promises retroactive marking “during January 2024".
How can you be sure that a class indication is valid?
Follow EASA recommendations (see here)… In any event, here is what Article 6.8 of Regulation 2019/945 describes: “ Manufacturers shall ensure that each product is accompanied by a copy of the EU declaration of conformity or a simplified EU declaration of conformity. When a simplified EU declaration is attached, it contains the exact internet address at which it is possible to obtain the full text of the EU declaration of conformity ».
Hello !
An article on class models today, as a new DJI drone arrives...
Is this a sign? Answer Tuesday.
@tomtom: 🙂🙂🙂
I didn't follow well, what about our DIY racers?
January 1st …… we will laugh yellow ….. and even very very yellow!!!!! it's going to be bloody for new operators!
No or extremely few C5 and C6 drones (the only 2 classes that will meet the requirements of machines in specific activities) and manufacturers who do not wish to assume the costs of a certification as stupid as it is useless such as the Euro commission egg skulls….
We cannot overemphasize the urgency of declaring yourself an operator before 1 January 24 (you will thus declare yourself in the “French” system and will benefit from 2 additional years of transition which will allow you to fly with your current machines) and to obtain the theoretical and practical titles before this same date, in order to be able to be a “French” remote pilot and have the possibility of being registered in the MANEX of a “French” operator …… it is more than 'urgent !!!!
The CE certification of the machines is a vast scam, I let you discover in the documents of the Euro Commission the technical requirements of the C5 and C6 machines ..... you will fall from the chair and you will understand better at what price we will pay these machines in a while……. it's maddening!
Hello,
If I have followed everything correctly, after January 1, 2024, it will still be possible to fly our DIY machines without class indication between 250g and 25 kg, but in sub-category A3, right?
So no big change for most hobbyists?
It is not possible to fly a drone classified C6 like the Delair UX11 in category A3?
@ JPH: The answer I got when the C5 and C6 were announced was that it was reserved for the Specific category. But that may have changed since then, I'll find out.
@Goebish: For unmarked or C4 or privately built devices, I will make a specific post. But I have not yet had the answers to all my questions (far from it!).
The DJI mavic 3 company (3M and 3T) are in which category with their accessories?
@ Mouillac: You choose the category according to the risk of theft. For low-risk flights, this is the Open category. For more risky, it is the Specific category.
If your question was about the subcategory in the Open category, the absence of class and weight correspond to use in the A2 Limited or A3 Limited subcategory until December 31, 2023, A3 Limited thereafter.
@ Mouillac ….. As Fréd says: after 31/12/2023, the M3E and T …. limited to limited A3, I let you discover on HM the possibilities that this leaves you …… if you have already acquired one of these machines you are not going to have a good weekend 🤣🤣 ……. when you know the very low price of these machines …… as the saying goes: “The b…….. count yourself”!!!
To update your list, the DJI M350 RTK is identified C3.
@SebGuns: Yes, I will add that! Thxxx 🙂
Hello @fred, I'm a little lost... So the Inspire 2 is C5? And the procedure to obtain it from DJI is not yet active?
And a Mavic 3 is C5… and C3? Do we add the 2 or what?
@Herveline Renault: No, the I2 is not C5, nor is the I3 (it is C3).
To my knowledge (as of 15/11/23), there is no C5 machine on the market yet. I have compiled here a list of actually classy devices (not those theoretically planned as published on EASA).
In the Mavic 3 range, there are classless models (the first non-upgraded Mavic 3s), C1 and C2. But no C3 or C5..
There is an upgrade procedure to C5 with a kit (software and hardware) provided for by the regulations, but only from a C3 device. So not for the Mavic 3 at the moment. The Inspire 3 is C3, it is eligible for this upgrade to C5… if DJI decides to offer the kit.