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.
German authorities have successfully tested an anti-drone system to protect restricted airport airspaces from invading craft, combining artificial intelligence (AI), tag-teaming sensors, and low-tech – but very efficient – nets spat by pursuing uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV).
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Leading advanced air mobility (AAM) company Skyports has struck a deal with the North London Brent Cross Town project to develop a veliport in the neighborhood to service electric vertical takeoff and landing craft (eVTOL) air taxis and other next-generation craft.
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The African Drone and Data Academy (ADDA) has won the Association for Unmanned Vehicles Systems International’s humanitarian and public safety award. In less than two years, the Malawi-based ADDA has produced 300 graduates from across Africa to pursue a variety of careers in business and public service based on drone tech.
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A pair of friends paid a high price for their illegal drone flights around France’s famed Mont-Saint-Michel earlier this year. On Wednesday a court slapped them with fines for breaking two different regulations as they filmed chums committing even worse legal infractions in the name of, um, something really stupid.
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When the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) TV network kicked off its live coverage of the nation’s hard-fought parliamentary election results this week, viewers on either side of the political aisle knew they’d be in for some gripping moments before the night was over. Little did they suspect the tension and awe would begin from the outset, with a masterful drone video piloting them through some pretty tight spaces in the CBC’s editorial center.
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Give Wing credit where it’s due. The company has not only launched and grown its Australian drone delivery business despite the headwinds of Covid complications and sustained complaints by certain homeowners, but it’s now even having to fend off repeated attacks by tetchy ravens.
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European aviation giant Airbus has revealed the updated version of its CityAirbus urban air mobility (UAM) plane. Certification of fixed-wing, all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi is being planned for some time in 2025.
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Next-generation aviation and automotive company Terrafugia Inc. has created a new unit that thrusts it into the heart of uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) activity. Its Commaris brand is wasting no time getting into the game, and has launched its fixed-wing, hybrid vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) plane, The Seeker.
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Toulouse-based aviation startup Ascendance Flight Technologies says it has secured $11.7 million in new funding from investors to accelerate development and testing of its hybrid-powered vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) passenger plane, Atea. The craft’s first public flight is planned for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
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The number of individual and organizational drone operators is rising nearly every day, and with it the pressure on new users get schooled and skilled on flying their craft. To help with that, the Rocky Mountain Unmanned Systems (RMUS) is offering a range of online courses teaching drone piloting techniques and preparing to pass certification tests.
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The increasing number of aircraft operating aloft carries a correspondingly higher risk of crashes – especially when navigation systems encounter problems. One company is now offering small, affordable backup tech that can help drones that lose GPS feeds understand where they are, and continue flying safely on.
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The mystery seems to thicken even as more details arise. Newly unearthed eye-witness accounts of the super-drone that outran and outmaneuvered pursuing police aircraft over Tucson last February establish it as “quadcopter like” replete with “propellers.” Yet the who, why, and especially how behind the unbelievable airborne performance remain entirely unknown.
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The government of Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) has said it will be spending millions of dollars to considerably expand drone flights over the state’s beaches this summer as part of its wider tech push to monitor sharks approaching popular swimming and surfing spots.
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Leading autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) company EHang will start autonomous electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle test flights in China’s Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as part of a new exploratory partnership.
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UK advanced mobility specialist Urban-Air Port is strengthening its partnership with South Korean car maker Hyundai’s air mobility division in a project to build 65 urban airports for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles around the world.
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The UK has announced moves toward drone deliveries of transplant organs and vital medicines like vaccines being flown around the country. The steps in preparing the transportation of critical supplies to patients puts the country at the forefront of nations considering deploying the craft for urgent medical services.
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French legislators have begun studying a new draft law to permit the use of drones by police for surveillance – a practice that was upended by legal rulings earlier this year. Debate over the measure offers insight into how state deployment of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) has become iconic of wider French concerns with potential data and privacy violations by authorities.
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A UK advanced mobility startup has won a government grant to support development of its hydrogen-powered, emissions-free cargo sub planned for use on point-to-point transport missions.
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The UK’s BAE Systems has said it is looking to develop a heavy-lift electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) quadcopter capable of carrying payloads of up to 300 kilograms in partnership with drone manufacturer Malloy Aeronautics.
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Chalk another mark up in the “drones for good” column. This week, a Canadian police search operation located an elderly man reported missing by his family with the help of a sensor-loaded DJI Matrice 300 drone.
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A New Jersey ex-convict is headed back to the slammer after a judge gave him a 43-month sentence for making drone deliveries of contraband cellphones, tobacco, and other items into the Fort Dix prison.
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Emergency and police aerial craft specialist BRINC Drones has announced its new partnership with leading public safety and crisis responder advocacy group DroneResponders. In its part of the sponsorship, BRINC says it will contribute thought leadership and technology demonstrations to educate and advance efficiency of emergency management.
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Authorities in Ecuador believe jailed gang leaders linked to international drug cartels were the targets of an explosives attack on a prison Monday by three drones. The attempt marks another and potentially deadly way that the craft are being used to access penitentiaries around the world.
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A drone pilot has taken a rare and spectacular video of a giant pod of humpback whales feeding together off Australia’s New South Wales coast. Experts say the craft’s footage is tantamount to catching lightning in a bottle twice within a year – and in nearly the same place that was first accomplished.
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