Air taxi developer AutoFlight is revving up to give fellow electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) plane maker EHang a run for its money in their domestic Chinese market, staging what it called the first inter-city flight ever by a next generation aircraft.

Aerial tech and communications group Ondas Holdings has announced the establishment of Ondas Autonomous Holdings (OAH) — a new, wholly-owned subsidiary that would oversee drone sector subsidiaries American Robotics and Airobotics.

US drone maker Skydio says it has begun delivery of the first X10Ds, the company’s new flagship drone for defense and government applications. The X10D is essentially an offline variant of Skydio’s X10 platform with advanced AI. It comes with a new feature called dynamic channel switching that helps operators monitor signal interference and move to a clearer channel to improve wireless transmission signal quality during flight.

ParaZero, an Israel-based company that builds drone safety systems for commercial aircraft and urban air mobility vehicles, says it plans to develop anti-drone solutions. The pivot comes amid reports that counter-drone tech could become a $15 billion market by 2032.

DJI has released a new firmware update for the Zenmuse L2 aerial LiDAR payload. The update includes support for H.265 video encoding, extended IMU calibration interval, optimized Point Cloud LiveView display, reduced file size for point cloud recordings, and fixes for issues including an incorrect display of gimbal connectors and problems with RGB Coloring and task quality report retrieval.

Emerging electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft used in air taxi transportation will generate billions of dollars in new activity – a major new boost to national economies that governments don’t want foreign companies to dominate. The most recent example of that defensive reflex of local aerial markets comes from the UK, where national hero Vertical Aerospace has received an additional $10.5 million in state support.

Police in Ireland have arrested a DJI drone-toting grandfather they’ve accused of being involved in what has reportedly become the high-volume smuggling of drugs and other banned items into prisons.

A 52-year-old man who shot down a high-end DJI drone belonging to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office in Florida has been sentenced to four years in federal prison. Here’s the whole story…

Though leaders like Zipline and Wing have generated most of the sector’s headlines in recent months, drone delivery pioneer SkyDrop has been quietly at work beneath the radar in continuing its seminal activities in the field. Today, however, the company announced its search for critical additional funding had come to an end, along with that its decade effort to develop specialized UAV transport hardware and systems.

Something is happening in neighborhoods of northwest Dublin that’s exciting residents – and it isn’t Ireland’s dominating performances in the ongoing Six Nations’ rugby tournament (or not only, anyway). Instead, people have been uploading videos of what could be the start of a long awaited move by Irish startup Manna Drone Delivery to roll out and scale regular services in the Irish capital.

Drone-based response and air-to-ground surveillance with thermal imaging are becoming increasingly important to police investigations. However, procuring an advanced drone model that can assist with public safety jobs can be quite an investment. This is why Teledyne FLIR has teamed up with PoliceGrantsHelp.com to help police agencies across the US secure grants for their drone programs.

Something strange – and incredibly dangerous – has been happening in the Arizona skies, where pilots of advanced F-16 and F-35 fighter jets reported 22 sightings and at least one collision with drones in or around restricted US Air Force zones. But beyond the basic details of those encounters, the mystery surrounding them remains total.

So, you’re looking to get into the drone hobby with an affordable entry-level gadget? If you’ve done some research already, you’d know that the Mini 2 SE is the cheapest entry-level drone from DJI today. But this is 2024. And Mini 2 SE gets much of its tech stack from the Mini 2, which first came out in 2020. The most reasonable beginner drone you can grab today is the DJI Mini 3. And the best part? Mini 3 is currently on sale for $469, a significant markdown from its original retail price of $559.

The San Francisco East Bay Area city of Fremont is launching what is being hailed as the nation’s first drone responder program operated jointly by municipal police and fire forces, in an effort backed by specialized UAV operation, training, and security consultancy partner Skyfire.

The UK’s  Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulatory body has taken an important step toward enabling UAV activities to scale, with its proposals to loosen rules for beyond visual line of sight drone operation (BVLOS).

Irrepressible UK startup Skyports Drone Services has landed what – in theory, anyway – could be a gold mine of near- and long-term UAV activity through its new partnership with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. 

A new initiative is set to introduce cross-border drone delivery services between Malaysia and Singapore. The focus will be on critical deliveries such as urgent documents, high-value electronics, medical supplies, and perishable foods.

In a bid to strengthen its global aviation security partnerships, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), an agency of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), recently conducted a counter-drone training in Croatia.

It took New York City ages to get over its aversion to drones, but now that it has its leaders are pushing for their deployment in expanding numbers – including helping beach lifeguards reach drowning victims faster.

Instant logistics pioneer Zipline is expanding its activities with US healthcare clients through a new contract to provide drone deliveries across Pennsylvania for patients and clinics of WellSpan Health.

Drone reality capture platform SkyeBrowse says it is introducing a new, cost-effective tier — SkyeBrowse Lite — that would allow professionals and hobbyists to generate high-quality 3D models without resorting to expensive photogrammetry software.

Anyline, a Vienna-based mobile data capture specialist, says its barcode scanning technology can now be deployed in commercially available drones to autonomously scan inventory across entire warehouses. Packaging and paper powerhouse Mondi recently engaged with Anyline to apply the tech to DJI Mini 3 Pro and successfully counted a full warehouse with flying cameras!