Two U.S. Marines kneel over a hard case, loading a simulated warhead onto a Neros Archer FPV drone fitted with a fiber-optic spool

3 min read · Department of Defense · September 30, 2026

Neros Wins $100M Pentagon Order, Plus 800 Drones Rivals Didn't Deliver

Neros says Gauntlet II brought a 14,000-drone order worth over $100 million, plus 800 Gauntlet I drones taken from rivals that missed their deadline.

Haye Kesteloo Editor-in-Chief September 30, 2026

The Wire · All Breaking

Time Beat Headline Reporter

16:38 ETSep 30

MIL

Neros Wins $100M Pentagon Order, Plus 800 Drones Rivals Didn't Deliver

H. Kesteloo

16:11 ETSep 30

MIL

Amprius Gets $75M Pentagon Drone Battery Grant, Mostly Unfunded

H. Kesteloo

14:58 ETSep 30

DJI

DJI Avata 360 Can't Fly Acro. An FPV Pilot Still Calls It Enough

H. Kesteloo

14:53 ETSep 30

DLVR

DoorDash Air Drone Lands Chipotle and Popeyes, but No Payload Number

H. Kesteloo

14:02 ETSep 30

DLVR

Tallahassee Commissioner Urged Amazon Drone Rules. Florida Law Says No

H. Kesteloo

22:15 ETSep 29

MIL

Pentagon Opens $450M Attack-Drone Round With A 400-Drone Deadline

H. Kesteloo

19:09 ETSep 29

DLVR

Amazon Drone Hub Faces Pause Call From Lawmakers as State Sues FAA

H. Kesteloo

08:56 ETSep 29

Lodi NJ Drone Ban Is Preempted, Judge Rules, But Pilot Gets No Order

H. Kesteloo

00:52 ETSep 29

FAA

FAA Sued by 15 States Over Drone Delivery Clearance Amazon Runs On

H. Kesteloo

23:12 ETSep 28

MATT

Matternet M3 Drone Lifts 11 Pounds, Has No FAA Certificate Yet

H. Kesteloo

14:47 ETSep 28

DLVR

Amazon Told Pflugerville Drones Take No Images. Its Own Site Disagrees

H. Kesteloo

14:24 ETSep 28

DLVR

North Haven Amazon Drones: How to File With CT DEEP Before Oct. 1

H. Kesteloo

DJI Rumors and News Live Tracker

DJI Avata 360 drone held up for review with reviewer Kai Vertigoh in the background

Deep Dive · DJI

DJI Avata 360 Can't Fly Acro. An FPV Pilot Still Calls It Enough

FPV pilot Kai Vertigoh tested the DJI Avata 360 in five jobs and says it can replace several drones for most buyers, despite no acro mode.

Haye Kesteloo · Sep 30 · 3 min read

Gray DJI Matrice 5TD prototype drone on asphalt with arms folded, a cylindrical antenna and dark dome on the top deck, and a multi-window gimbal

Leak

DJI Matrice 5TD Surfaces In China Filing, 750 g Heavier Than 4TD

Haye Kesteloo · Sep 27

Pilot Institute host presenting the weekly drone news update for week 384

FCC Filing

FCC Targets DJI Chips as Amazon Drones Swarm a Texas Suburb

Greg Reverdiau · Sep 25

DJI Osmo Pocket 4 gimbal camera standing on a mini tripod on a stone ledge, lens facing forward, with a blurred city skyline and ocean behind it

DJI

DJI Osmo Pocket 4 Hits $572 on Amazon, a Price DJI Never Set

Haye Kesteloo · Sep 22

Drones for Good

All Drones for Good →

Manna Pitches Tulsa Fire Drone AEDs, an Idea Dublin Never Launched

Haye Kesteloo Sep 27

Manna Aero

Paris Study: AED Drones Reach 95% of Cardiac Arrests in Five Minutes

Haye Kesteloo Sep 26

Drones for Good

Zipline Promises Ivory Coast A 300% Return, Not What It Costs

Haye Kesteloo Sep 22

Zipline

Pilot Institute

FCC Filing

FCC Targets DJI Chips as Amazon Drones Swarm a Texas Suburb

Greg Reverdiau · Sep 25

DJI

DJI Avata 360 After 3 Months: The Best and Worst of Flying 360

Greg Reverdiau · Sep 19

Drone as First Responder

Boston Police Drone Crashes on a Car Days After Its DFR Launch

Greg Reverdiau · Sep 18

Drone Policy, FAA, FCCPart 107 · Remote ID · TRUST · LAANC

All FAA →

DoorDash Air Drone Lands Chipotle and Popeyes, but No Payload Number

Haye Kesteloo Sep 30

DoorDash Air

Amazon Drone Hub Faces Pause Call From Lawmakers as State Sues FAA

Haye Kesteloo Sep 29

Amazon

Lodi NJ Drone Ban Is Preempted, Judge Rules, But Pilot Gets No Order

Haye Kesteloo Sep 29

United States

Air Photography

DJI

DJI Neo 2 After One Year: The Drone I Fly More Than Any Other

Shawn Air Photography · Sep 7

DJI

DJI Lito X1 vs. Mini 5 Pro: Which Drone Should Beginners Buy?

Shawn Air Photography · Jul 25

Air Photography

GoPro Wireless Mic Overview And Audio Tests: What Shawn Found

Shawn Air Photography · Jul 14

Drone Delivery

All Drone Delivery →

DoorDash Air Drone Lands Chipotle and Popeyes, but No Payload Number

Haye Kesteloo Sep 30

DoorDash Air

Tallahassee Commissioner Urged Amazon Drone Rules. Florida Law Says No

Haye Kesteloo Sep 30

Amazon

Amazon Drone Hub Faces Pause Call From Lawmakers as State Sues FAA

Haye Kesteloo Sep 29

Amazon

51 Drones

Industry

Drone Tariffs Hit September 3. Here's Why Prices Won't Jump 25% Overnight

Russ 51 Drones · Sep 1

US Government

I Used To Call The Trump Jr. DJI Theory A Conspiracy. The Tariffs Changed My Mind

Russ 51 Drones · Aug 16

DJI

Top 11 Tips for New Drone Pilots After 8 Years of Flying

Russ 51 Drones · Aug 3

Police, DFRDFR · Patrol · Evidence

All Police →

DSPA Breaks Charter to Take DHS Blue UAS Report to Congress

Haye Kesteloo Sep 28

DSPA

Manna Pitches Tulsa Fire Drone AEDs, an Idea Dublin Never Launched

Haye Kesteloo Sep 27

Manna Aero

DHS Lab Grounds 3 of 5 Blue UAS in NYC, Withholds Chinese Drone Scores

Haye Kesteloo Sep 25

DHS report

Jake Sloan

Insta360

Insta360 Luna Pro Review: 8K Gimbal Camera Tested in Alaska Wind

Jake Sloan · Sep 22

DJI

DJI Osmo 360 II Review: 1-Inch Sensors, 8K60 and User-Replaceable Lenses Put to the Test

Jake Sloan · Sep 15

DJI

DJI Osmo Nano vs Action 6 vs Osmo 360: My Buyer's Guide to DJI's Action Cameras

Jake Sloan · Aug 28

Counter Drone

All Counter-Drone →

Russia's Geran-4 Runs On A $25,000 Hobby Jet, Texas Instruments Chips

Haye Kesteloo Sep 28

Russia

Space Force Adds Lasers at Cape Canaveral After 500 Port Drone Flights

Haye Kesteloo Sep 26

Counter-Drone

France and Italy Deny CIA Warned of Russian Ship-Launched Drones

Haye Kesteloo Sep 24

Counter-Drone

DC Rainmaker

Insta360

Insta360 X6 In-Depth Review: What's Actually New — and Where It Falls Short

Ray DC Rainmaker · Aug 21

Insta360

Insta360 Luna Ultra Vs. DJI Pocket 4: My Complete Footage Comparison

Ray DC Rainmaker · Jun 10

DJI

GoPro Mission 1 Pro Review: 61 Things You Need to Know After Two Months of Shooting

Ray DC Rainmaker · Jun 1

Conflict Watch Ukraine · Russia · Battlefield UAS

Overhead view of a dark delta-wing Russian Geran-4 Seeker attack drone lying on asphalt with its turbojet engine at the rear, a journalist standing beside it and a removed component on the ground, from RFE/RL's September 2026 teardown video

Deep Dive · Russia

Russia's Geran-4 Runs On A $25,000 Hobby Jet, Texas Instruments Chips

RFE/RL took apart a Geran-4 Seeker: a $25,000 Chinese hobby turbojet, two SIM cards, a mesh modem, Texas Instruments chips. Russia builds 3,000 a month.

Haye Kesteloo · Sep 28 · 4 min read

Ukrainian soldiers loading a machine-gun ammunition belt into a tracked unmanned ground vehicle

Ukraine

Ukraine Air-Drops Kamikaze Robots 12 Miles Behind Russian Lines

Haye Kesteloo · Sep 27

Lineup of AI-generated military robots including a humanoid, quadrupeds, a tracked snake robot and gun carts in a foggy field

Ukraine

Fedorov Wants A Humanoid Robot Killing Russians Within Six Months

Haye Kesteloo · Sep 26

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, seen across the water with a steam cloud billowing beside the pad

Counter-Drone

Space Force Adds Lasers at Cape Canaveral After 500 Port Drone Flights

Haye Kesteloo · Sep 26

FPV

All FPV →

Neros Wins $100M Pentagon Order, Plus 800 Drones Rivals Didn't Deliver

Haye Kesteloo Sep 30

Department of Defense

DJI Avata 360 Can't Fly Acro. An FPV Pilot Still Calls It Enough

Haye Kesteloo Sep 30

DJI

Pentagon Opens $450M Attack-Drone Round With A 400-Drone Deadline

Haye Kesteloo Sep 29

Department of Defense

Mihail Svilenov

Drone Supremacy

Stop Color Grading Your DJI Pocket 4P Footage Wrong

Mihail Svilenov · Aug 28

Video

I Used The Antigravity A1 To Preserve A 1,000-Year-Old Bulgarian Fortress In 3D

Mihail Svilenov · Aug 24

Insta360

These Insta360 Luna Ultra Settings Made My Footage Look More Cinematic

Mihail Svilenov · Jul 21

Drone Technology

All Technology →

Russia's Geran-4 Runs On A $25,000 Hobby Jet, Texas Instruments Chips

Haye Kesteloo Sep 28

Russia

Fedorov Wants A Humanoid Robot Killing Russians Within Six Months

Haye Kesteloo Sep 26

Ukraine

Edison Buys a 60 MPH Flock Drone, Promises 45-Second Response

Haye Kesteloo Sep 25

Police

Wild Life, Nature

Wildlife

Drone Captures Humpback Whale Birth In a World First

Rafael Suárez · Aug 4

Drone Research

UH Drones Tag 22 Humpback Whales Off Maui Without Boats

Rafael Suárez · Aug 4

DJI

DJI Matrice 4 Series Drones Multiply German Fawn Rescues Twentyfold Before Mowing Season

Haye Kesteloo · Jul 1

Drone Industry, Research

All Industry →

Redfin Just Handed Drone Pilots a Client Checklist. Use It

Haye Kesteloo Sep 27

Industry

Tekever Hits $6.4 Billion as University of California Backs AI Drones

Haye Kesteloo Sep 23

Industry

Army Has 40,000 Drones and Too Few Pilots. FAA Data Shows Why

Haye Kesteloo Sep 20

Industry

From the Newsroom

All articles →

Two Amprius silicon-anode pouch cells on a red honeycomb-textured surface

Amprius Gets $75M Pentagon Drone Battery Grant, Mostly Unfunded

Amprius will turn a U.S. EV battery line into a 12-million-cell drone factory. Its filing shows $22 million of the $75 million grant is funded so far.

Haye Kesteloo Sep 30 4 min

Department of Defense

DJI Avata 360 Can't Fly Acro. An FPV Pilot Still Calls It Enough

FPV pilot Kai Vertigoh tested the DJI Avata 360 in five jobs and says it can replace several drones for most buyers, despite no acro mode.

Haye Kesteloo Sep 30 3 min

DJI

DoorDash Air delivery drone flying against a blue sky with an order box under its fuselage

DoorDash Air Drone Lands Chipotle and Popeyes, but No Payload Number

DoorDash unveiled its six-rotor DoorDash Air drone and a Northern California pilot with Chipotle and Popeyes. It still hasn't published a payload weight.

Haye Kesteloo Sep 30 4 min

DoorDash Air

Amazon Prime Air MK30 delivery drone flying above a launch site where two crew members in orange safety vests work at a table between two drones on launch stands, under a cloudy sky

Tallahassee Commissioner Urged Amazon Drone Rules. Florida Law Says No

A Tallahassee commissioner said Amazon's drones need regulating. The city attorney says Florida law bars it. Amazon shows its MK30 there October 20.

Haye Kesteloo Sep 30 4 min

Amazon

The drone industry moves fast. Stay ahead of it.