Bruce Crumley

Hot on the heels of the rollout of its more affordable Mavic 3 Classic last month, DJI looks poised to replicate the same step-down strategy of its drone development with a rumored Mini 3 launch.

Remotely piloted drone tech and services company Skypersonic has made delivery of its specially designed and tested hardware and software package to NASA for use in a year-long simulated Mars mission.

The European Commission is moving to accelerate the use and diversification of UAV services across the European Union (EU) with the adoption of its Drone Strategy 2.0, which, in addition to tapping into what’s expected to be a vigorous growth area, seeks to reduce the opportunities for malevolent actors to abuse the technology.

The operational footprint and activity range of drone development organization, Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance (NUAIR), is set to get considerably larger through its participation in a new US-Canadian consortium aiming to create what it calls “the first international advanced air mobility (AAM) corridor” between New York and Quebec.

So much for the abide-no-rules rock and roll attitude. Whoever said UAVs produced some of the world’s loudest whining hadn’t heard Guns ‘N Roses singer Axl Rose complain about drone flights at the group’s recent concerts for having distracted him, rather than for posing potential (and illegal) danger to his fans.

Diversified aerial tech group Red Cat Holdings is moving to tighten its range of activities with the announcement it will sell its two consumer drone divisions, Rotor Riot and Fat Shark, to focus on the military and security activities of its surging Teal unit.

A group in Wales that monitors the local coast to keep visitors safe from rapidly shifting tides has broken away from its national organization after it was banned from continued deployment of its drone as part of its operation. 

Is DJI really the ominous data threat to its customers – and even to US national security – that detractors claim, or might it instead be the victim of a broadening effort of sector rivals and allied politicians to undermine the company’s favored status among both private and enterprise drone buyers? The question has arisen anew with a report this week in US media ringing alarm bells about a purported “Chinese drone spy threat” the company’s craft pose.

Drone giant DJI has just released a firmware upgrade for its flagship Matrice 300 RTK series (M300) enterprise drone, which also covers associated accessories, and enables Remote ID to satisfy US regulations.

Middle-mile drone delivery specialist Dronamics is revving up its push to prepare aerial transport services with an upcoming round of fundraising that has already received a $2.6 million head start grant from the European Commission’s European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator program.

A new drone video has surfaced demonstrating yet again just how effective UAVs have been in bringing spectators up close and personal with improved footage of surfers as they negotiate waves – this time in some of the most enormous swells the ocean can muster.

China’s leading developer of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) planes for air taxi operation, EHang, is broadening its work with authorities in Europe to help usher in urban air mobility (UAM) operating systems and services.

Readers of DroneDJ will remember a story published earlier this month about video captured by a Ukraine drone – which later went viral – as it dropped a series of grenades on a Russian soldier lying on his side, who responded by irritably tossing the munitions away before they exploded. Now information has arisen claiming to add details to the story behind the footage.

Already accustomed to using drones to inspect its enormous 1,400 circuit miles of transmission infrastructure, the New York Power Authority (NYPA) says it’s now turning to artificial intelligence (AI) analytics to both speed up and improve detection of weak points requiring repair, and take action to prevent costly outages.

Global camera drone and tech giant DJI appears to have turned the tables somewhat on the most reliable leakers of its products by releasing its new O3 Air Unit for transmitting video from FPV flights today – a full 24 hours before the earliest prediction had expected.

Specialist public safety and first responder drone consultancy Skyfire says it successfully assisted wildfire-plagued utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to obtain a Federal Aviation Administration waiver to operate beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) infrastructure flights throughout the entire state of California.

The rumored release of DJI’s new O3 Air Unit enhancing video transmission during FPV drone flight appears to be close at hand – possibly even Thursday – according to several new product leaks that include a marketing document replete with full specs.

French officials have echoed concerns expressed last week by the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) about the emerging threat of drones in attacks by terrorists or other malevolent forces against major events like the US Super Bowl, World Series, or the World Cup of soccer whose current edition opened Sunday in Qatar.

Brussels will host the EU Drone Days, an event being held November 29-30 to inform interested business, governmental, and public parties about the European Commission’s Drone Strategy 2.0 for introducing UAV activity as an integrated part of daily life and work.

A UK consortium of companies has launched a two-year, high-intensity autonomous drone operations (HALO) project to develop and test an uncrewed aircraft traffic management system (UTM) capable of integrating around the clock UAV flights at London’s Heathrow Airport.

Innovating botanists in Hawaii are again adapting tech loaded on drones to preserve native plants from extinction in areas too remote or dangerous for humans to access – this time on Hawaii Island to battle Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death (ROD) fungus killing indigenous ʻōhiʻa lehua trees.