Ishveena Singh

US President Joe Biden is nominating Phil Washington, the chief executive officer of the Denver International Airport, to lead the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). If confirmed, Washington would become the FAA’s first Black permanent leader.

Armor Group, a major European manufacturer of industrial inks, says it has started using a drone-in-a-box solution for daily surveillance and preventive inspection at a French manufacturing site whose atmosphere has been classified as “potentially explosive.” The company’s La Chevrolière site is now benefiting from Hoverseen automatic docking system for Parrot ANAFI thermal drones. 

A new firmware version is being rolled out today for the DJI Mavic Air 2. The update comes barely a month after the drone saw its last firmware refresh.

Elon Musk’s brother, Kimbal Musk, has acquired more than 9,000 drones from Intel to form a new drone light show company, Nova Sky Stories. While the terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed by either party, the chipmaker has confirmed that it will no longer run the Intel Drone Light Shows unit.

In a development that many didn’t see coming, Ondas Holdings has announced a deal to acquire drone-in-a-box solution provider Airobotics. The news comes barely a year after Ondas’s acquisition of American Robotics, a fellow player in the fully automated drone ecosystem.

Conservationists say that a drone flying illegally and recklessly over a nature reserve in the United Kingdom has forced at least 150 migratory birds to flee in panic. At the same time, the drone “noticeably harassed” several sick sandwich terns who had most likely been infected with Avian Influenza (bird flu). The weakest of the terns soon perished thereafter.

Here’s some important news for longtime DJI Phantom users. The technology giant has announced the end of service (EOS) timeline for select Phantom drone models and their accessories.

As you celebrate the Independence Day holiday, the FAA is sending out reminders to keep safety front and center. The message is simple: drones and fireworks do not mix well together.

FreeFlight 7, the app Parrot specifically designed for its newest ANAFI Ai aircraft, has received a major update that, among other things, fixes at least 595 bugs. Parrot is calling the update its “biggest step forward” since the release of the ANAFI Ai drone.

DJI has released a new firmware update for its latest travel-friendly drone, the Mini 3 Pro. This is the aircraft’s first significant update since May, when sellers started accepting pre-orders for the sub-250-gram drone.

Autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) company EHang has found yet another partner to promote Urban Air Mobility (UAM) in Spain and Europe. ENAIRE, Spain’s national air navigation services provider, has agreed to collaborate with the Chinese eVTOL maker on the UAS traffic management project, U-Space.

The DJI Fly app has received a fresh update (version 1.6.8) today. And it’s packed with some incredible new features for Mini 3 Pro users.

Red Cat Holdings subsidiary Skypersonic says it has successfully completed the world’s first transcontinental drone inspection relying only on an internet connection from a normal mobile phone. A fully operational utility plant in Turin was inspected using an indoor drone controlled from Orlando, some 4,800 miles away.

Skydio is expanding its drone insurance policy to protect X2 enterprise users against accidental damages from collisions, water damage, and unrecoverable landings.

DJI has expanded the availability of its mobile app dedicated to the Agras line of agricultural drones. The previously Chinese-only DJI SmartFarm app now supports English, Japanese, and Thai languages, too.

Indoor Robotics, an Israeli drone technology startup, has raised $15 million in Series A funding to boost the production of its automated security robot, Tando. The indoor drone, which is already in use at several warehouses, data centers, malls, and retail establishments, can be used for other functions also, such as monitoring temperature and air quality.

Airspace Link is now one step closer to its mission of building a Waze for drone pilots and supporting safe integration of drones into the national airspace.

UScellular and Ericsson are using drones to test 5G network performance at altitude. Initial trials have been conducted in Beloit, Wisconsin, using a drone that was flown between two UScellular commercial 5G towers.

The Parrot ANAFI USA, a Blue sUAS program-approved drone, can now be used for continuous aerial observation as a tethered solution. The NDAA- and TAA-compliant drone gains this capability courtesy of a new partnership that Parrot has forged with fellow French company Arastelle.

The process to seek approvals to fly over people and beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) in 27 European Member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland has become easier for pilots operating the senseFly eBee X fixed-wing mapping and surveying drone.

German delivery drone specialist Wingcopter has scored a cool $42 million in its latest funding round — an extension of its Series A. The fresh funds bring the company’s total equity raised to more than $60 million to date.