Bruce Crumley

Australian drone delivery company Swoop Aero has returned to sector headlines after a long period of maintaining a relatively low profile by playing a critical role in the recently completed trial of Ethiopia’s first UAV medical distribution system.

How bad is the reputation of California utility Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E)? Poor enough that it’s conspicuously displaying the sight and sounds of its drone flights to endear itself to the public (that’s a joke, kind of – read on). 

What at its launch was hailed as the UK’s first permanent UAV postal delivery operation has been temporarily suspended after a Skyports Drone Services craft encountered a technical glitch, leading an observer to abort a routine mission linking Orkney Islands destinations for the Royal Mail.

Drone show organizer and tech creator Verge Aero has taken another step towards its apparent goal of putting itself out of business (kinda), with the introduction of its eponymously branded Composer software designed to transform neophytes into celestial Twyla Tharps.

The European Union organization researching, testing, and validating urban air mobility (UAM) services, AiRMOUR, has issued a guide to assist businesses, communities, and member nations to facilitate the integration of next generation aviation tech into daily activities.

Just hours after leading US electric car company Tesla unveiled its new Cybertruck, Chinese UAV dock specialist Heisha unveiled its new drone nesting system tailor-made to fit Elon Musk’s newest ride.

Fast-moving California defense startup Anduril has announced the release of a new type of aircraft called Roadrunner, which is situated somewhere between a drone and missile and designed to address the kind of military and economic dilemmas that cash-strapped countries like Ukraine face in responding to aerial attacks.

UK-based Skyports Drone Services is pursuing its international business growth and geographical expansion through a new partnership with Norway’s Field, offering specialized, cutting-edge aerial infrastructure inspection and monitoring activities.

Dromamics, the world’s first drone delivery airline is setting an additional air transport precedent by partnering with Qatar Airways Cargo, forging the first global network linking the longer-haul routes of a major carrier with the smaller, more local destinations that the middle-mile UAV startup plans to serve.

In UAV terms, in may rank up there with standing “in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot(ing) somebody” with quasi-impunity. Yesterday, a California man was sentenced for buzzing three different piloted aircraft with his drone, yet suffered nothing worse than community service and a hefty fine for acts the law defines as criminal offenses.

Police in New York City have added an another use case to their expanding deployment of drones: dissuading people from recurring rooftop “subway surfing” activity that has resulted in deaths and serious injuries this year.

Surging automated drone tech company Percepto has added another Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) achievement to its growing list, which in this case allows the company to remotely operate up to 30 of its UAVs using only one pilot.

Aerial tech and communications group Ondas Holdings is leveraging its subsidiaries’ strengths by deploying Airobotics’ automated nested drone platform under the beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operation of American Robotics, as part of a pilot program it will oversee for the aeronautics division of Massachusetts Department of Transport (MassDOT).

HevenDrones has made good on its pledge at the outset of the year to introduce three hydrogen-powered UAVs during 2023 with today’s unveiling of two new craft in its H2D200 drone series.

German electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) plane startup Lilium has obtained authorization from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) that will allow it far greater flexibility and range in developing its future battery-powered air taxi toward certification.

It may be Cyber Monday everywhere else, but it’s still Black Friday at BETAFPV, where a site-wide 15% sale can still be bettered with a 20% reduction using a special DroneDJ code – including on the just-released Pavo35 first person view (FPV) drone.

Were there any lingering doubt about the contribution drones can make to emergency response activity, it has now been dispelled by a Lancet study of Swedish drone startup Everdrone’s performance in rushing life-saving defibrillators (AEDs) to cardiac arrest victims.

He isn’t old enough to obtain a driver’s license, but can legally pilot a drone – which he did (after getting a ride to takeoff destinations) to most illegally fly repeated delivery missions of drugs and other banned items into prisons in southwest France.

It’s the day after Thanksgiving, things are slow, and everyone is feeling a bit sluggish. That’s the excuse for this post, featuring another Russian soldier caught out by drone pilots in the wrong place – their Ukraine homeless – at the excruciatingly wrong time. Or in other words, herewith another video of a UAV dropping an explosive load on a Russki soldat doing number two – this one a form aerial bathroom humor decidedly short on the yucks.

As its name suggests, BETAFPV specializes in first person view drones, and now the arial and-you-are-there company is ready to go better than its 15% Black Friday discounts with special 20%-off FPV deals especially for DroneDJ readers.

Innovative UK drone startup Inteliports says it successfully completed a trial run of its GO UAV delivery concept, which is designed to group all functions of the takeoff, landing, flight navigation, and payload handling process into compact, automated modules that fit neatly into urban landscapes.