French drone maker, Parrot has been selected by the Department of Defense as one of six companies to help develop a short-range reconnaissance drone for the US Army. The development of small commercial drones for the battlefield is t result of a partnership between the U.S. Army Program Executive Officer (PEO) for Aviation’s Project Manager, Unmanned Aircraft Systems, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and the Army’s Maneuver Center of Excellence. DJI is not among the other selected companies. The ongoing US-China trade war, which caused price increases for DJI products, and fears of Chinese companies such as Huawei and DJI potentially spying on behalf of the Chinese government have suddenly created new opportunities for American and Western European companies, such as Parrot.

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The French drone maker, Parrot launches the ANAFI Thermal, a light-weight and very compact drone with an integrated FLIR thermal camera aimed at professional drone pilots. This new drone is launched as an all in one package, which includes the drone, the thermal sensor, and the software. The ANAFI Thermal, three batteries, and a shoulder bag will retail for $1,900 USD and will be available at authorized retailers starting next month. The ANAFI Thermal competes head-on with the DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual as it offers the same resolution (160 x 120) FLIR thermal sensor but at a lower price ($1,900 instead of $2,699 for the Enterprise Dual).

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Despite positive reviews of the Anafi, sales at the French drone-maker Parrot have dropped by 40% compared to the same quarter last year. The company has reacted by announcing that it will cut 100 jobs. The market responded to the news by cutting the value of the French drone maker in half on the Paris stock exchange. The layoffs are bad news for the once-dominant Parrot, but the company’s troubles could provide a short-term benefit to consumers. The Anafi is now being sold for a fraction of the price that it was a few months ago. The Anafi is on sale for under $550 on both Amazon and Parrot.com.

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The DJI Spark has been the best drone under $500 for quite some time now. At its new reduced price of $399, the Spark is officially the beginner drone for most people. There really haven’t been many other options for people who want a good aerial photography drone on a budget. That’s changing now, with some smaller players moving into the affordable consumer drone space. Let’s take a closer look at the best drones under $500. expand full story