Bruce Crumley

Montana has adopted a new law adding state penalties for drone pilots whose flights interfere with firefighting efforts on top of federal fines – a legal combination that could feasibly cost convicted violators $40,000.

DJI has set a fairly blistering pace of new drone releases in 2023, but according to an online leaker racking up an increasing number of discoveries about developing products, the aerial parade isn’t over yet – with a new Air 3 craft said to be on the way soon.

Advanced air mobility (AAM) company Vertical Aerospace has established a multi-faceted partnership with the self-described “super app provider” mobility unit of South Korea’s internet giant, Kakao Corporation, including pre-orders of up to 50 of the UK startup’s VX4 air taxis.

Swiss tech company Meteomatics is set to launch its drone-based Meteodrone low atmospheric weather analysis platform in North Dakota today – a first in the US that the firm says will provide UAV and other aircraft clients a far clearer picture of rapidly shifting local weather conditions than standard forecasts produce.

Silicon giant Alphabet’s Wing drone delivery company has passed several significant milestones in developing its operations around the world over the last year, but now it’s boasting an accomplishment with virtually zero chance of becoming a recurring use case – lowering a payload of peanuts and beer along the outfield foul lines of the Colorado Rockies’ Coors Field.

Though its owner Red Cat Holdings has been steadily recentering its UAV operations on hardcore defense applications and clients over the past year, Teal Drones continues to find buyers of its tactical craft from non-military organizations as well – most recently the North Carolina Wing of the Civil Air Patrol. 

Patients in eastern Virginia can expect to see the time and effort required to get prescription medication they need considerably reduced with the nearing launch of a new drone delivery program for remote locations.

California heavy-lift UAV startup Parallel Flight Technologies has repeatedly demonstrated a desire to harness its boundary-pushing development of drone technology to objectives benefiting people and the planet – the most recent example being its new partnership with environmental NGO Island Conservation to preserve native flora and fauna under threat of extinction from invasive predators.

Efforts to prepare for urban air mobility (UAM) services in South Korea will be accelerating this year, as officials in Seoul plan the launch of a two-phase series of air taxi trails in and around the capital.

Transport authorities in France have lifted the veil a bit more on demonstration air taxi services slated to debut during the Paris Summer Olympics next year, including the anticipated cost of a ride between Charles de Gaulle Airport and a riverside Seine vertiport of about €110 (just over $119).

Officials in the UK are again demonstrating their willingness – indeed eagerness – to lead the way in adopting a widening array of drone applications with the deployment of UAVs by Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) to improve traffic management.

Though clearly still in the early stages of their development and growth, rapidly scaling drone delivery services made the ascending activity seems invulnerable to the layoffs rocking the wider US tech sector – an assumption that Amazon, and now DroneUp are have proven incorrect.

DJI is only about 24 hours away from officially unveiling its newest drone, but that hasn’t stopped an online sleuth from digging up and posting spoiler details about what is now virtually certain to be called the Matrice 350 RTK.

The UK’s Skyports Drone Services has added a new activity to its ship-to-shore aerial activities with the introduction Cash-to-Master (CTM) operations, shuttling reserves of money between anchored and harbored vessels and officials on the ground.

Czech UAV tech startup Dronetag is helping pilots in the US stay regulation complaint, save money in doing so, and also show their true feelings about new rules coming into force in September with the company’s new and evocatively named Dronetag BS remote ID  product.

The different use cases being found for UAVs seem as inexhaustible as they are diverse. And now, to that list of mostly productive and pragmatic innovations, a video adds the unabashedly goofy repurposing of a DJI agricultural drone as a personal aircraft (and/or toy).

London’s Gatwick Airport suspended flights on Sunday when – yet another – reported drone sighting near the facility led authorities to halt operations as a safety precaution until the all-clear was given.

Electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) developer Archer Aviation has announced the completed assembly of its first Midnight air taxi – the basis on which the company will launch production and air taxi services once the craft obtains certification.

Drone enthusiasts who dream of one day piloting their craft using the speed and efficiency of jet engine tech take heart – UK startup Greenjets has released a solution striving to turn that ambition into reality.

Law enforcement officials in Ohio have compiled a sufficiently solid case against three suspects to secure their indictment for having flown drones to provide inmates in multiple prisons around the state with narcotics and other contraband items.

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is preparing to begin drone inspections of airports and other transport hubs to assess the security of those facilities, but before doing so has moved to address any public concerns that images or other identifying data will be collected of people who happen to be around areas under surveillance.