A couple of fairly clear elements have arisen about the Pentagon’s otherwise secretive future UAV plans. The first is it intends to initially invest $1 billion in its expendable swarm program known as Replicator, with the second being participating drone makers had better be in permanent revision mode to be to produce continuously upgraded craft.
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Bruce Crumley is journalist and writer who has worked for Fortune, Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, The Guardian, AFP, and was Paris correspondent and bureau chief for Time magazine specializing in political and terrorism reporting. He splits his time between Paris and Biarritz, and is the author of novel Maika‘i Stink Eye.
Targeting one annoying user, St. Louis passes commercial drone restriction applicable to all
In another example of isolated obnoxious drone operation producing regressive rules for all users, St. Louis is finalizing an ordinance requiring anyone flying UAVs for commercial purposes to obtain a specific city authorization, in addition to having a Federal Aviation Administration Part 107 license.
Expand Expanding ClosePFT inks FireFly heavy-lift deal with lessor Alpha Drones USA
California heavy-lift drone specialist Parallel Flight Technologies (PFT) has secured another buyer for its brawny FireFly UAVs, through a new sales agreement with industrial hardware supplier Alpha Drones USA.
Expand Expanding CloseAs US idles, UK ups its aid to Ukraine with 10,000 extra drones
The UK has announced it will be increasing its previously announced military aid package to Ukraine to include 10,000 additional drones at a total cost of £325 million ($416 million) – support coming at a critical time as Kyiv’s munitions run low amid blocked US assistance.
Expand Expanding CloseRed Cat equipping Teal Drones with AI-enhanced voice-control capabilities
Specialized defense and security UAV company Red Cat Holdings is moving to further enhance the onboard assets of its tactical Teal Drones craft by adding voice-control capacities developed by startup Primordial Labs.
Expand Expanding CloseSan Fransisco voters approve police drone, facial recognition use
San Francisco has pivoted from its habitual leftist civil liberties positioning to approve increased police powers for fighting crime, including uses of drone and formerly banned facial recognition tech.
Expand Expanding CloseSkyports Infrastructure to built ‘UK’s first vertiport’ air taxi test facility
UK drone services and air taxi infrastructure specialist Skyports says it has been commissioned to create “the UK’s first vertiport testbed” at a specialized facility about 65 miles northwest of London.
Expand Expanding CloseUK Defence Drone Strategy commits $5.7B to UAV development
The UK military has always been gung-ho on the potentials of drone technologies, but their performance in Ukraine has solidified British convictions that UAVs have become essential to future conflict strategies – a view it is backing up with a 4.5 billion pound ($5.7 billion) investment.
Expand Expanding CloseAustralia, Frequentis to create UTM for 60 million drones by 2043
Seemingly ever vying for the title as the antipodean Texas, Australia does everything big – really big – a penchant once again reflected in its forecast of becoming home to over 60 million drone flights by 2043.
Expand Expanding CloseAfter trial video teasers, Manna Drone Delivery launches in Dublin
Confirming suspicions reported by DroneDJ last week citing video captures of Manna Drone Delivery UAVs transporting orders to people in Dublin’s Blanchardstown neighborhood, the startup has officially announced the launch of services in the 100,000-household area, as well as its first big restaurant client in the operation.
Expand Expanding CloseUkraine on target to surpass one million FPV drone production goal, fueling wartime GDP growth
Ukraine appears to be ahead of its stated 2024 objective of producing a million drones for battling Russia’s invasion, with government officials saying 200,000 of those first-person view (FPV) UAVs have already been manufactured by the nation’s proliferating aerial tech companies.
Expand Expanding CloseJapan Airlines brings drone services to remote Setouchi residents
Japan Airlines is partnering with governments responsible for a small coastal community in western Japan, launching drone services that will provide regular delivery of provisions and ensure food as well as medical needs during recurring periods of isolating extreme weather.
Expand Expanding CloseArizona joins movement to ban DJI drones from US operation
Legislators in Arizona are lining up in the procession of authorities across the US looking to ban the use drones made by global leader DJI, citing the company’s China origins as motivating their security justifications.
Expand Expanding CloseDedrone posts 300% surge in drone detection, counter-UAV activity
Leading counter-UAV tech company, Dedrone, has announced a huge surge in 2023 results with an over 300% increase in revenues, fueled by what it said were 16 new government contracts signed over the past year.
Expand Expanding CloseAir taxi developer AutoFlight makes ‘first inter-city’ eVTOL flight
Air taxi developer AutoFlight is revving up to give fellow electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) plane maker EHang a run for its money in their domestic Chinese market, staging what it called the first inter-city flight ever by a next generation aircraft.
Expand Expanding CloseVertical gets $10 million UK state eVTOL funding, reflecting big national stakes in eVTOL activity
Emerging electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft used in air taxi transportation will generate billions of dollars in new activity – a major new boost to national economies that governments don’t want foreign companies to dominate. The most recent example of that defensive reflex of local aerial markets comes from the UK, where national hero Vertical Aerospace has received an additional $10.5 million in state support.
Expand Expanding ClosePolice in Ireland nab ‘grandfather’ in alleged drone drug trafficking scheme to prisons
Police in Ireland have arrested a DJI drone-toting grandfather they’ve accused of being involved in what has reportedly become the high-volume smuggling of drugs and other banned items into prisons.
Expand Expanding CloseSkyDrop ends historic drone delivery work as funding runs out
Though leaders like Zipline and Wing have generated most of the sector’s headlines in recent months, drone delivery pioneer SkyDrop has been quietly at work beneath the radar in continuing its seminal activities in the field. Today, however, the company announced its search for critical additional funding had come to an end, along with that its decade effort to develop specialized UAV transport hardware and systems.
Expand Expanding CloseClient videos capture Manna’s long awaited Dublin drone deliveries. Is scaling nigh?
Something is happening in neighborhoods of northwest Dublin that’s exciting residents – and it isn’t Ireland’s dominating performances in the ongoing Six Nations’ rugby tournament (or not only, anyway). Instead, people have been uploading videos of what could be the start of a long awaited move by Irish startup Manna Drone Delivery to roll out and scale regular services in the Irish capital.
Expand Expanding CloseSpate of drone sightings reported in banned US Air Force jet fighter airspace, including at least one collision
Something strange – and incredibly dangerous – has been happening in the Arizona skies, where pilots of advanced F-16 and F-35 fighter jets reported 22 sightings and at least one collision with drones in or around restricted US Air Force zones. But beyond the basic details of those encounters, the mystery surrounding them remains total.
Expand Expanding CloseSkyfire aids Fremont launch nation’s ‘first’ joint fire-police responder drone unit
The San Francisco East Bay Area city of Fremont is launching what is being hailed as the nation’s first drone responder program operated jointly by municipal police and fire forces, in an effort backed by specialized UAV operation, training, and security consultancy partner Skyfire.
Expand Expanding CloseCAA proposes UK rules to permit scalable BVLOS drone operations
The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulatory body has taken an important step toward enabling UAV activities to scale, with its proposals to loosen rules for beyond visual line of sight drone operation (BVLOS).
Expand Expanding CloseSkyports’ drone delivery study for New York Port Authority could open door to other UAV activity
Irrepressible UK startup Skyports Drone Services has landed what – in theory, anyway – could be a gold mine of near- and long-term UAV activity through its new partnership with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Expand Expanding CloseFormerly drone-phobic New York to deploy lifeguard UAVs at city beaches this summer
It took New York City ages to get over its aversion to drones, but now that it has its leaders are pushing for their deployment in expanding numbers – including helping beach lifeguards reach drowning victims faster.
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