Knowledge · Fundamentals · Reviewed 2026-09
What Is Remote ID?
The digital licence plate that lets a drone flying over your site be identified — by anyone with a receiver worth $100.
The short answer
Remote ID (RID) is a continuous radio broadcast that most drones must transmit by law. It carries the aircraft’s serial or registration number, its position and altitude, its velocity — and the location from which the pilot is operating. Think of it as a licence plate, broadcast instead of bolted on. Receivers on the ground tune in, and every message arrives timestamped and geotagged.
What a broadcast contains
- Identity — a serial number or registration mark that traces to the operator
- Position and altitude — updated roughly every second while airborne
- Velocity and heading — enough to reconstruct the flight path afterwards
- The pilot’s take-off point — the single field that turns an alert into a case
Who must broadcast it
The United States requires Remote ID under FAA Part 89 for most drones flown outside controlled recreational settings. The European Union mandates Direct Remote ID under EASA rules, harmonised through ASD-STAN PrEN 4709. The United Kingdom phases in its own RID requirement through 2026–2028, and China’s GB 42590 standard took effect in 2026 for drones sold in its market. Aircraft sold by the major manufacturers in recent years broadcast ASTM F3411 as a baseline — which is why RID reception covers the majority of the drones you will actually encounter.
What it cannot do — and what complements it
Remote ID depends on the aircraft cooperating. A home-built FPV rig with no broadcast module is invisible to RID, and an aircraft at extreme range may drop below decode threshold. RID also says nothing about intent — it identifies, it does not judge. Where your threat includes non-broadcasting aircraft, an RF-spectrum layer watches the airwaves instead; the two chained together cover detection and identity. And to be equally plain about limits: no detection technology stops an aircraft. Receiving a broadcast is lawful almost everywhere; interfering with a flight is not.
Ready to see which aircraft in your area broadcast? Our free decoder reads real payloads in your browser — or compare receivers that receive them for a living.