Bruce Crumley

A group of next-generation UK aviation tech companies and associated organizations have released a white paper urging the government and national regulators to move quickly to create rules enabling effective integration of beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights by drones and other craft into the airspace, and unleashing their full potential economic contributions that risk being undermined if such activity is held back.

Drone services and ground robotic vehicle specialist InDro Robotics has received a waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) UAV flights in the US, a first for a Canadian company according to the Toronto-based firm.

Malaysian drone data, tech, and transmission company Aerodyne Group is continuing its push to claim the title as the world’s largest UAV service provider with today’s acquisition of Italy’s Aiviewgroup.

UK-based Skyports Drone Services is expanding its international operations in South Korea through a joint venture with local company Marine Drone Tech (MDT) and will initially work to launch specialized ship-to-shore UAV deliveries.

Unified drone mission tech and uncrewed traffic management company Aloft says it has updated its eponymous flight app to support requests by recreation pilots for nighttime flight in controlled airspaces to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) program – a service previously limited to professional operators.

Canadian high-performance UAV producer Draganfly is moving to make further inroads with defense and security clients by partnering with specialized sensor and artificial intelligence solution provider Vermeer, whose visual positioning system (VPS) will be integrated into Commander 3XL drones.

A division of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) specializing in drone development and operation has been given a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) waiver allowing experts to directly assess the air worthiness of craft and oversee their testing in various operational scenarios and certification trial runs.

French drone and sensor developer Delair has revealed its UX11 craft has become the world’s first enterprise UAV to receive European Union C6 categorization, allowing it to be operated for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights without previous authorization from regulators.

Drone pilots visiting the Atlantic coast vacation spot of Wildwood, New Jersey, may have to consult the calendar – and check in with the local police – before sending their craft aloft if a proposed municipal ordinance limiting use of UAV is passed today.

Score one for Oz. Sydney-based developer of the Vertiia electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, AMSL Aero, says it has become the first Australian company to test-fly a next-generation plane entirely designed and produced in the country.

The government of South Korea is launching a project to create a smart logistics infrastructure network designed to slash the time between customer orders and their delivery by drones and robotic vehicles to under an hour.

German developer of electic vertical of takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL), Volocopter, has reenergized its longstanding activities in Japan by commencing the certification process of its VoloCity air taxi in the country, concurrent to similar work with three other regulatory bodies already under way.

Aviation services company Blade Air Mobility has teamed up with next generation sustainable ALIA-250 aircraft developer BETA Technologies to undertake the first test flight of an electric takeoff and landing (eVTOL) plane in the greater NYC area.

Despite DJI’s decision last April to halt importation to and sales of its products in Russia and Ukraine as a means of undermining their use in the war between the two countries, news reports now reveal the company’s drones continue surreptitiously flowing to Russian armed forces with the help of collaborators in China, the Middle East, and Europe.

Europe’s first licensed drone delivery airline, Dronamics, said it has raised $40 million in pre-Series A funding for the launch of its innovative strategy of providing middle-mile aerial transport services in a sector that has largely focused on last-mile activities.

The New York Power Authority (NYPA) has taken another step in its increasing use of drones as tools in inspecting and managing its vast infrastructure by obtaining a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) waver for beyond visual line of sight flights (BVLOS) at its Blenheim-Gilboa Pumped Storage Power Project, in partnership with Skydio.

Innovative European enterprise drone company FIXAR is continuing its global business expansion with an entry into Brazil’s robust beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) services market, partnering with local aviation company Helisul Aviação to do so.

Drone services and delivery company Spright says it has obtained what it calls a “first of a kind” waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for specific beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) inspection missions.

Leading US Part 135 cargo airline Ameriflight is moving to diversify the business it operates for clients like UPS by supplementing its fleet of traditional aircraft with next-generation heavy-lift drones ­– most recently the brawny UAVs from Oxnard-based startup Sabrewing.

Continued US uproar over spy balloons from China has drifted across the Atlantic, where UK authorities are now sounding alarms over the abundance of Chinese surveillance technologies used by official administrations – including the dominance of DJI drones in police fleets.

Canadian UAV hardware and software company Draganfly has reinforced its emphatic support of Ukraine in its battle against invading Russian forces with the delivery of the first of three Situational Assessment Drones for the nation’s emergency and rescue units.