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UK drone services and air taxi infrastructure specialist Skyports says it has been commissioned to create “the UK’s first vertiport testbed” at a specialized facility about 65 miles northwest of London.

The UK military has always been gung-ho on the potentials of drone technologies, but their performance in Ukraine has solidified British convictions that UAVs have become essential to future conflict strategies – a view it is backing up with a 4.5 billion pound ($5.7 billion) investment.

The wait for an official DJI retail store in the US is now over. DJI’s brand-new concept store, its first in North America, has opened its doors on New York City’s famed Fifth Avenue today.

Seemingly ever vying for the title as the antipodean Texas, Australia does everything big – really big – a penchant once again reflected in its forecast of becoming home to over 60 million drone flights by 2043.

Confirming suspicions reported by DroneDJ last week citing video captures of Manna Drone Delivery UAVs transporting orders to people in Dublin’s Blanchardstown neighborhood, the startup has officially announced the launch of services in the 100,000-household area, as well as its first big restaurant client in the operation.

Tech giant DJI has provided a detailed response to legislation that seeks to ban its drones in the US. If passed, the “Countering CCP Drones Act” would prevent operators from buying the latest DJI drones — and may also potentially ground existing fleets, regardless of how operators use them — because it would prohibit DJI from operating on US communications infrastructure. The bill has already advanced to clear a Congress committee hearing.

US drone maker Skydio says the Miami Beach Police Department (MBPD) plans to use its new X10 drones to monitor spring break 2024 crowds. The MBPD has previously used Skydio drones during large-scale public events such as Art Week 2023 and New Year’s Eve to help protect event attendees and keep the community at large safe.

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) has gained approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly a large drone over a portion of the US 33 corridor northwest of Columbus. A 20-pound drone will now fly beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) to monitor traffic and assist with incident management.

Ukraine appears to be ahead of its stated 2024 objective of producing a million drones for battling Russia’s invasion, with government officials saying 200,000 of those first-person view (FPV) UAVs have already been manufactured by the nation’s proliferating aerial tech companies.

Japan Airlines is partnering with governments responsible for a small coastal community in western Japan, launching drone services that will provide regular delivery of provisions and ensure food as well as medical needs during recurring periods of isolating extreme weather.

The inside story of how Red Bull took DIY engineering to the next level to build a rocket-shaped drone that could keep up with an F1 car on the track.

Legislators in Arizona are lining up in the procession of authorities across the US looking to ban the use drones made by global leader DJI, citing the company’s China origins as motivating their security justifications.

Leading counter-UAV tech company, Dedrone, has announced a huge surge in 2023 results with an over 300% increase in revenues, fueled by what it said were 16 new government contracts signed over the past year.

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…