Earlier this summer the company Throwflame had a bit of a viral moment when they launched a drone with a flamethrower attached to it.  Throwflame is a company that specializes in flamethrowers and the accessories needed to operate them for a variety of reasons.  The majority of the flamethrowers they sell are used for commercial purposes such as pest control, and landscape brush management.  They are based out of Cleveland, OH and proudly sell only materials made in the United States of America, including the TF-19 WASP Flamethrower drone that can shoot a flame 25 feet for 100 seconds.

Throwflame makes it very clear on their website that owning and operating a flamethrower is completely legal in almost all of the United Stated.  They state, “In the United States, flamethrowers are federally unregulated tools and not considered a firearm by the ATF. No need for any NFA tax stamps, licensing or even an FFL dealer. However, it’s the purchaser’s responsibility to ascertain that ownership and or use does not violate any state or local laws or regulations.”  While on the information for their flame-throwing drone they say, “Flamethrower drones are federally legal and not considered weapons; however, users are still required to comply with the FAA’s UAS rules in addition to local ordinances.”

The FAA is not quite in agreement with this statement.  They have issued a stern warning against anyone mounting a flamethrower, or any device that could be weaponized, onto a drone.  In a statement released by the FAA they say, “Perhaps you’ve seen online photos and videos of drones with attached guns, bombs, fireworks, flamethrowers, and other dangerous items.  Do not consider attaching any items such as these to a drone because operating a drone with such an item may result in significant harm to a person and to your bank account.”  Fines for operating a drone with such an attachment begin at $25,000 per violation.

While a flamethrower may be legal, so is a knife.  The FAA pointed out that a drone equipped with a dangerous item like a flamethrower is in violation of the Section 363 of the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act.  This defines such a weapon as one “that is used for, or is readily capable of, causing death or serious bodily injury, except that such term does not include a pocket knife with a blade of less than 2½ inches in length.”  True, Throwflame has positioned the TF-19 WASP Flamethrower drone as a tool rather than a weapon, but that does not in any way mean it can’t be used as a weapon intentionally or accidentally.

However, the FAA does acknowledge that there are situations in which a drone with a flamethrower could be needed.  Some of these situations align with the purposes for which Throwflame intended their drone to be used for like clearing high-voltage wires, overgrown brush, or even for a film crew.  In these scenarios the drone operator must first petition the FAA for “specific authorization from the Administrator of the FAA to conduct the operation.”  Much like how a drone operator has to seek permission to fly in certain areas and at specific times. 

All of this is information that is clearly outlined in the Part 107, the license needed to be able to commercially operate a drone.  So if common sense doesn’t stop you from first strapping a flamethrower to your drone, your research in obtaining your license should.