Drone News – Thu June 11, 2020

Here are today's most important drone News articles. We publish this post every weekday at 5:30 p.m. Some of these stories are from DroneXL.co and some of them will be from other sources. If you'd like to receive this in an email going forward, be sure to subscribe using the form below.

Drone news from DroneXL.co

Police drone with thermal camera spots weed plantation above a bar in England – In England, a Police drone with a thermal camera spotted a cannabis factory or weed plantation above a bar in Willenhall. After the West Midlands Police had raided the bar, It was mentioned that the weed was worth over 500,000 British pounds.

DHS wants to know what you think about using drones during emergencies – On Tuesday the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted a notice on the Federal Register about a survey to get a better idea of citizens' knowledge and feelings of government agencies using drones during emergencies.

Dover Police Department uses drone video to show arrest journalist in release statement – The Dover Police Department uses a drone video to show the arrest of a journalist from the Dover Post during protests in the Camden, Delaware area. The drone video was used by the police to substantiate a release statement from the Dover Police.

Capturing protesting crowds by drone safely without needing an FAA waiver – Even though Jamie Goodwick is authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly a DJI Mavic 2 Pro outfitted with a small parachute over people. He didn't need to do so in order to capture the protesting crowds marching down Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Portland, Oregon with his drone.

Inmarsat's system allows drones to fly safely beyond-visual-line-of-sight – Satellite company Inmarsat Group Holdings Ltd. says that it has developed a way to fly civil drones safely hundreds of miles beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS).

WiBotic raises $5.7M to expand wireless drone charging business – WiBotic announces today that the company has raised $5.7M to expand wireless drone charging business with new product offerings and enhanced customer support. WiBotic's CEO Ben Waters plans to grow the sales team over the next few months.

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Other drone news

Crews recover missing man's body from Wolfe County lake – Wednesday the Wolfe County Lake Recovery Mission found the body of missing James Lovelace. An underwater rover/drone was used to find the boy. Once Lovelace was found, the Grayson Dive Team retrieved him. They ask that everybody keeps the Lovelace family in their prayers.

Point Pleasant Beach party shows challenge of social distancing – Belmar's drone lifted off for its regular noon mission. As people gathered on the beaches, the drone hovered at 150 feet to scan the crowds. Images show that beaches have been jam-packed lately, and with New Jersey's stay-at-home order now lifted, a crush of sunseekers eager to escape the COVID-19 lockdown is on. “When you're up in the air, you actually can actually see the distance between the people on the beach and we can identify which areas are busier than others,” said Ryan Dullea, Belmar's fire marshall.

Drone fly-through of $22M cannabis bust in Lismore – Watch this drone fly-through of nearly $22 million worth of cannabis seized after 20 large-scale industrial grow houses dismantled near Lismore.

Drones have been used on the Sawtooth Fire in Arizona – One of the aerial support tools Firefighters have been using for a variety of tasks on the Sawtooth Fire 10 miles east of Apache Junction, Arizona are Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS or drones). UAS are gathering images and video and patrolling areas inaccessible to firefighters or larger aircraft. While this technology does not replace the need for large aircraft and helicopters, it does lower the risk to fire crews both in the air and on the ground. The UAS Operators are trained, qualified, and have constant communication with other fire aircraft.

How to Use a Drone on a Sailboat – With a little practice, any sailor can capture great photos from aloft. In the past decade, drones have completely revolutionized how we see sailing. Just a handful of years ago, capturing airborne images of a sailing yacht, a regatta or a harbor was exclusively the domain of professional photographers or well-heeled amateurs who could afford a helicopter and were equipped with a pricey long-lens camera to capture the moment. Now, literally millions of people around the world carry a small, unmanned drone that can be easily launched into the sky and commanded to take photos and video; some even have the ability to distribute these images live onto social media. Due to the nature of sailing and the constantly changing seascape in which it takes place, being able to achieve this aerial perspective is invaluable to telling the story of a cruise or racing yacht and its crew, and the places and conditions in which it travels.

Ukrainian soldier injured in Donbas after enemy drone grenade drop – A Ukrainian soldier has been wounded near the village of Pavlopil in Donetsk region in an explosion of a grenade the enemy dropped from the unmanned aerial vehicle. “The enemy dropped a grenade (probably VOG-17) from their UAV on the positions of the Joint Forces. One Ukrainian soldier was injured in the blast. The serviceman was rushed to a hospital where he was provided proper medical assistance,” the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation (JFO) Headquarters said on Facebook.

Small Drones Continue to Threaten Deployed U.S. Forces – U.S. forces in the Middle East are not prepared enough to defend against swarms of small drones, and the Pentagon needs to work harder to get ahead of the enduring threat, the head of U.S. Central Command warned. Small unmanned aerial systems, which can be purchased online or in a typical department store and easily outfitted with weapons, have proliferated to the point where it is costlier and harder to defend against than it is for adversaries to buy them, CENTCOM boss Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said. Troops have seen a variety of those aircraft in the region for years, and they won't go away any time soon.

Russia creating global underwater and air drone network despite fears of its ‘dangers' – The vast network of drones could improve Russian communications across the world – but there are fears the system could be weaponized by the aggressive nation.

World's first BBQ drone delivery landing in Ireland tomorrow – Exciting news for Ireland as the world's first BBQ drone delivery is due to land in the country tomorrow.
Countless restaurants and businesses have pivoted to using drones during lockdown including Bull's-Eye BBQ Sauces who have teamed up with Ireland's leading drone expert Ian Kiely to orchestrate the country's first BBQ drone delivery.

Falling from the sky: How Iran became a drone superpower – In early 1991, a surprising windfall landed on Iran's airbases. Scores of modern jets flew in from Iraq, fleeing the murderous coalition airstrikes on Saddam Hussein's regime. But the boon from Iran's former nemesis was problematic because it could not get the spare parts or have the maintenance engineers to service them. A decade later, other aircraft fell from the sky that proved much more suitable to Iran's ambitions.

The Human Vs. Drone Dogfight Showdown Is Happening Next Year – The U.S. Air Force will square off an AI-powered drone against a fighter jet flown by a real, live human being. The service wants to know if AI powered by machine learning can beat a human pilot with actual cockpit experience. The result will help the Air Force determine if AI-powered fighters are a viable alternative to human-powered fighters, the results of which could have far-reaching consequences for aerial warfare.

If the US Navy isn't careful, its new unmanned tanker drone could face a 3-year delay – Washington — The US Navy could face a three-year delay in testing of the MQ-25 Stingray carrier-based tanking drone if it doesn't get its designated test ships through the required modernizations on time, a possibility the Navy said was remote. Two carriers — Carl Vinson and George H.W. Bush — have limited windows to complete the installation of unmanned aircraft control stations, and if operational commitments intervene it could create significant issues for the program, according to Navy officials and a government watchdog report.

How Drones Beat Top Guns — 50 Years Ago – The Air Force has announced a plan to pit a fighter drone against a human pilot next year, reviving the longstanding argument about whether drones can ever match Top Guns and how good the Air Force's Autonomous Systems are. But this same contest was held exactly 50 years earlier – and the humans lost. The BQM-34 Teledyne Ryan Firebee, in service since 1960 is a target drone, a sleek, jet twenty-three feet long which could fly at over 700 mph on a pre-programmed flight path. It launched and recovered mid-air by a C-130 Hercules with a capture net, or parachute into the sea for recovery.

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