Bruce Crumley

The profile of smaller drones is rapidly expanding in both the planning and execution of global conflicts, and in reaction defense and security company BAE Systems has continued adaptation and testing of less costly munitions to battle mid-sized UAVs as an option to larger and more sophisticated anti-air systems. 

Newspapers worldwide have been decimated to near extinction by various disruptive technologies over the past decade, but a Finnish company is preparing to give local dailies a lift by assuring prompt delivery of papers to subscribers on secluded lake islands south of the city of Tampere.

The UK’s Royal Navy has long pursued a variety of UAVs and related systems to assist and improve operations of its forces around the world, but now its specialized aviation tech unit has taken a step further by finally producing a drone of its very own.

Video footage taken during the last seconds of what were reportedly drone attacks by Ukraine special forces against Russian positions and vehicles have surfaced on social media, including an astonishing shot of a UAV flying directly into the open back doors of a Russian armored vehicle as it tries to escape.

The US Navy has been working on ways to provision ships at sea with less costly alternatives to traditional marine vessels, planes, or helicopters – now it says it has successfully completed a trial using drones to fulfill those delivery requirements.

Spain’s national rail company, Renfe, is moving to counter intrusions along its lines, and theft and vandalism of its rolling and stationary assets, by deploying drones to monitor activity over several critical sections of its network.

A US patent filing by Ford Motor Co. published this month provides details on a system the automotive giant is developing to permit secure drone flights over public roads.

Urban air mobility (UAM) aircraft developer Eve has been a hard-charging arrival to the next-generation aviation sector, and in less than two years after its October 2020 inception has revealed numerous deals after going public with a successful Wall Street listing. Despite that, the Embraer unit now says it has secured new financing for continued development of a vehicle it has yet to present.

Part of Dehli’s mass transit Metro Rail was shut down over the weekend after what was later reported to have been a medical delivery drone carrying vials of blood coming down on the tracks.

China-based advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft manufacturer EHang has struck an investment deal worth up to $20 million with a Chinese state-backed urban and economic development zone, suggesting the publicly listed company needs more cash than it possesses to continue working toward certification and production.

In late October, DroneDJ reported about an ambitious medical drone delivery trial in the UK linking three Midlands hospitals with 24/7 on-demand service operating under the same time pressures and weather conditions a live service would. Two months into the tests, the partners behind it have communicated some impressive results.

Altaport, creator of automated management systems for airport and heliport operators, says it is now working to offer those same capabilities to vertiports that will soon be enabling flights of next-generation electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) planes.

Original Luke Skywalker actor Mark Hamill has extended his support for Ukraine beyond raising money for the nation’s Army of Drones campaign to now lending a hand (or more like a throat) to helping Ukrainians keep safe from aerial strikes through their use of an app called Air Alert.

Aerial strategy and infrastructure specialist DronePort Network has formed a partnership with Osage LLC to develop and manage the large, multi-purpose Skyway 36 aviation facility, whose use by fixed-wing planes, drones, and next-generation passenger craft will be the cornerstone of the Tulsa Regional Advanced Mobility project (TRAM).

Virginia-based long-endurance tilt-wing drone specialist Advanced Aircraft Company (AAC) has been tapped by NASA to develop a UAV it has designed that pivots the propellers to shift from vertical liftoff to horizontal flight thrust in a more effective manner than existing methods used on most air taxis being developed.

Aviation safety tech specialist Iris Automation has received its third waiver for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights on behalf of the Reno Fire Department (RFD), which will be able to use the added authorization to continue testing drones in dangerous river rescue situations.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a set of airworthiness criteria for the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis under development by Archer Aviation, making the company just the second after Joby to receive the vital guide toward certification.

In another indication of how the effectiveness of smaller UAVs in conflict situations like Ukraine’s defense against invading Russian troops is leading modern armies to integrate the craft in ever larger numbers, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has ordered $156.6 million in portable drones for deployment by its armed forces.

Though as soul-obliterating as the outcome of Sunday’s World Cup final in Qatar was to France fans around the globe, it provided millions across the otherwise suffering Argentina cause for unchecked joy and celebration – some of which was captured in an arresting drone video filmed in Buenos Aires.

Leading drone data, tech, and transmission group Aerodyne is continuing to expand its presence in the rapidly growing Latin America market by taking a controlling stake in Brazilian UAV service company Grupo DR1.

Sweden has taken a step closer toward regular drone delivery operations with UAV services company Aerit wrapping up a large-scale pilot project in partnership with Swedish supermarket chain ICA.