Skydio has announced two new drones — the R10 and F10 — aimed at transforming how first responders, infrastructure operators, and defense teams carry out missions. One drone is built for navigating tight indoor spaces, while the other offers fixed-wing speed and endurance designed for rural and long-range operations. Together, they signal a major expansion of Skydio’s vision for autonomous aerial intelligence.
Skydio R10: Bringing drones as first responder indoors
The Skydio R10 is being billed as the first indoor drone in the US purpose-built for public safety. Weighing just 1.7 pounds and measuring 10 inches square, it’s compact enough to ride in a patrol car but tough enough for aggressive flying in confined spaces.
Unlike consumer drones that officers often modify with aftermarket lights and accessories, the R10 comes fully equipped: bright onboard lighting, two-way audio communications, multi-hour perch capability, and live-streaming to a common operating system. It also integrates seamlessly with existing public safety workflows like CAD, Fusus, and evidence management.
At its core, R10 is powered by Skydio Autonomy, including NightSense zero-light obstacle avoidance. That means even minimally trained officers can safely fly it down hallways, into rooms, or through vehicles, gathering intelligence before stepping into potentially life-threatening situations.
Skydio says this levels the playing field, moving drones out of the hands of specialized SWAT teams and into everyday patrol units. Picture a burglary call: an R10 is deployed directly from a squad car to clear the building’s interior while an X10 provides exterior overwatch. Officers stay safer, suspects are identified sooner, and response tactics become far more effective.
The company expects early access for R10 in fall 2025, with full availability in 2026.
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Skydio F10: Long-range fixed-wing power
If R10 is about precision in close quarters, the Skydio F10 is about reach. This fixed-wing drone is under development with a planned flight time of more than 90 minutes and top speeds exceeding 80 mph. That endurance pushes drone coverage out to dozens of miles, making it ideal for rural emergency response, high-speed pursuits, and long linear inspections.
One of the biggest challenges for rural agencies is response time, with deputies sometimes needing 45 minutes to arrive at an emergency. With F10, an autonomous drone could be on scene in minutes, providing critical intelligence long before responders arrive.
The F10 isn’t just about performance, it’s about autonomy. Skydio plans to integrate it into its Dock system, enabling fully automated launch and landing. That means agencies could pre-position F10s across wide areas, ready to fly missions with minimal human oversight.
The F10 is expected to enter early access in the first half of 2026.
These announcements come after Skydio’s earlier breakthroughs with the X10 quadcopter and the Dock for X10 system. Since its 2023 debut, the X10 has flown over 500,000 missions worldwide, from streaming situational awareness to 911 responders in under a minute to preventing outages at critical infrastructure sites.
Dock-enabled X10s have already transformed how agencies respond to emergencies, with drones often beating officers to the scene. Militaries have also turned to Dock-based X10s for perimeter protection and rapid response.
Still, Skydio acknowledges the X10 has limitations: around 30 minutes of battery life and a 31” frame make it less suited for indoor work or extended long-distance missions. The R10 and F10 were designed to fill those gaps.
With three specialized aircraft now in its lineup — the X10, R10, and F10 — Skydio is building what it calls a family of flying robots on one platform. Each serves a unique purpose:
- X10: outdoor overwatch and multi-mile subject tracking.
- R10: indoor reconnaissance and close-range navigation.
- F10: long-range coverage and rapid response in rural areas.
All three integrate with the same Skydio Autonomy software, controllers, and cloud systems, allowing agencies to scale their drone programs without needing different training or workflows for each model.
Skydio frames these launches as part of a larger moment in American aerospace and robotics. By combining AI, autonomy, and innovative hardware design, the company aims to prove that the US can remain competitive in drone technology: a field often dominated by foreign manufacturers.
“AI, robotics, and aviation are coming together to keep our communities safe, our infrastructure running, and our nation secure,” the company says. With the R10 and F10 set to hit the skies by 2026, Skydio is betting that its newest flying robots will redefine what drones can do — indoors, outdoors, and far beyond.
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