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Red Cat Holding is continuing to transition its Teal Drones affiliate from its initial positioning as a maker of security and defense UAVs to one as a leading innovator in tech-packed small craft for military clients with the incorporation of Athena AI computer vision assets on its new Teal 2 product.

AutoFlight, a developer of next-generation craft for air taxi operation, has announced the current version of its Prosperity I plane set a world record for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) flight by covering over 250 kilometers on a single charge.

The Magic Kingdom got a little extra special – and weird ­­­– this weekend when visitors at Disneyland spotted a banned drone hovering overhead, until it navigated to one side and promptly crashed in some bushes. Strangest of all: the aerial invader made its appearance above Frontierland, not Tomorrowland as might have been more logical.

Public safety drone consultancy Skyfire and UAV automation platform VOTIX are coming together in a new partnership to enable more public safety agencies to navigate FAA regulations and start their own Drone as First Responder (DFR) programs.

In what may well be more bad news for soldiers in the renewed Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine, a video has materialized indicating just how quickly authorities are apparently assembling the fleet of 1,000 FPV drones said they’d obtain for kamikaze strikes on invading troops.

Buzz it, and they will come – the cops, that is. State lawmakers in Iowa have introduced legislation that calls for creating fines and potential prison sentences for pilots who fly their drones within 400 feet of farms raising livestock.

Unified Traffic Management (UTM) technology provider Altitude Angel says it’s ready to unveil the next generation of simulation modeling, which puts the airspace manager at the very heart of the flight. This “first of its kind” simulator for airspace management shows drones and crewed aircraft sharing the same skies. It will premiere at the Airspace World industry expo, which is scheduled to take place in Geneva, Switzerland, from March 8-10.

Flyability, the Swiss company producing indoor drones for a variety of enterprise and industrial applications, says it will now make radiation detection and measurement meters by Mirion Technologies available aboard its Elios 3 UAVs for customers in nuclear activities.

An opposition organization active in Moscow-allied Belarus says it took a page from its invasion-fighting neighbors to the south by using drones to drop munitions on a Russian warplane that had been used to assist rocket strikes on Ukraine, purportedly inflicting considerable damage.

US developer of vertiports Volatus Infrastructure is teaming up with South Korean advanced air mobility (AAM) plane developer Plana in an effort to close what appears to be a significant gap in preparing for next-generation aircraft services: having necessary ground assets set up and operating by the time air taxis are ready to begin transporting passengers.

Counter-drone specialist DroneShield has released a new firmware update for its AI-powered drone detection, identification, and tracking software DroneOptID.

A scientific team has flown an Autel EVO Lite+ drone inside the active main crater of Costa Rica’s tallest volcano, Irazú. The 6K camera drone helped to document several aspects of the volcano including lake water levels, areas of mineralization or crystallization, and potential vents degassing volcanic emissions.

Skydio announced Monday that it has raised $230 million in a Series E funding round at a valuation of $2.2 billion. In addition, the largest drone manufacturer in the United States has roped in public safety technology provider Axon as a key partner.

A group of next-generation UK aviation tech companies and associated organizations have released a white paper urging the government and national regulators to move quickly to create rules enabling effective integration of beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights by drones and other craft into the airspace, and unleashing their full potential economic contributions that risk being undermined if such activity is held back.

Leaks and rumors about the hotly anticipated successor to the DJI Inspire 2 aerial cinematography drone are again picking up steam. The latest comes from a new public patent in China detailing the design of the alleged Inspire 3 professional filmmaking drone.

Drone services and ground robotic vehicle specialist InDro Robotics has received a waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) UAV flights in the US, a first for a Canadian company according to the Toronto-based firm.

Malaysian drone data, tech, and transmission company Aerodyne Group is continuing its push to claim the title as the world’s largest UAV service provider with today’s acquisition of Italy’s Aiviewgroup.

UK-based Skyports Drone Services is expanding its international operations in South Korea through a joint venture with local company Marine Drone Tech (MDT) and will initially work to launch specialized ship-to-shore UAV deliveries.

Unified drone mission tech and uncrewed traffic management company Aloft says it has updated its eponymous flight app to support requests by recreation pilots for nighttime flight in controlled airspaces to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) program – a service previously limited to professional operators.

Worcestershire County in the UK has started trialing high-tech drones fitted with cameras to carry out bridge inspections. The county is home to around 1,500 bridge structures.

Israeli drone manufacturer Robotican says its hybrid drone Rooster has successfully performed a building scan-and-clear mission for the Spanish Army during a ground drill that simulated a hostile urban environment.

Canadian high-performance UAV producer Draganfly is moving to make further inroads with defense and security clients by partnering with specialized sensor and artificial intelligence solution provider Vermeer, whose visual positioning system (VPS) will be integrated into Commander 3XL drones.