Florida Senator Pushes Emergency DJI Ban, New Drone Payload Restrains Suspects, and Georgia Prison Smuggling Arrests

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update. In my latest video, we have three stories for you this week. A Florida senator is pushing for an emergency retroactive ban on certain DJI and Autel drones. Not good. And then we also have a new drone payload that can physically restrain suspects from the air. And then lastly, a good old “don’t be that guy” segment. Let’s get to it.

Florida Senator Demands Retroactive DJI and Autel Ban

First up, we have Florida Senator Rick Scott who sent a letter on October 20th to the FCC urging the agency to take “aggressive action” against DJI and Autel Robotics. He’s not just asking for a future ban. He’s demanding that the FCC retroactively revoke all equipment authorization from DJI and Autel that have been issued since December 23rd of 2024. So pretty much over the last year.

This letter specifically calls out what Scott describes as a deliberate evasion strategy where Chinese companies allegedly use shell companies in order to get around US restrictions.

Now the letter also outlines three major demands. The first one is to rescind all existing FCC authorization for DJI and Autel since the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act was enacted—going back to December 23rd of 2024, last year-ish. Second, to deny any new licenses to devices that use components or software from these companies. And then third, to strengthen corporate disclosure rules to prevent shell companies from hiding who actually owns them.

Now, this is all happening just before the FCC vote on October 28th that we talked about last week, which is aimed at closing loopholes that allow the sale of equipment with different components from companies that are on the covered list.

This looks pretty grim, but there’s a big caveat here. Autel and DJI are not on the covered list for the FCC, meaning that the FCC vote has nothing really to do with any of them at this time. It could affect them later if they are added in December. But at the moment, the issue is not really applicable and will not result in an immediate ban of DJI equipment that was authorized last year.

And even then, if you think about it, it looks like this would only affect the Mini 5 Pro, which is not currently really available for sale in the US, even though it is in a few places, which was approved only a few months ago. The Mavic 4 Pro was the model before that, which also is not available in the US, but that was approved before the NDAA was enacted in December of 2024.

Now, as always, this is a good time to reach out to your representative to demand an extension of the audit. The audit needs to be completed. It has to be completed if we want to end this national security debate once and for all—it’s got to be completed. And of course, if you’re in Florida, reach out to Senator Scott and tell him what you think about this.

Wrap Technologies Unveils Drone Payload That Can Restrain Suspects

Next up, we have a story that sounds like it’s straight out of a sci-fi movie. Wrap Technologies has just unveiled a drone payload system that can physically restrain a person from the air. It’s called the DFR-X payload, also called the Merlin Interdictor, and it essentially mounts their tether technology onto a drone.

Now, Wrap Technologies is the same company that is behind the BolaWrap, which is a non-lethal remote restraint tool that is used by law enforcement to de-escalate situations and safely detain individuals. Think about it as like a lasso that kind of wraps around people.

So how does this actually work from the drone side? Well, the system is drone agnostic. It has a payload that has six cassettes, and each of these cassettes can deploy an 8-foot Kevlar tether that is going to shoot out at 500 feet per second in order to wrap around the suspect’s arms and legs.

Now, the company says that it’s non-lethal. It’s a tool that’s designed to deter, delay, and disrupt threatening behavior before officers can arrive at the scene. Now, they’re also positioning it as a life-saving tool for situations like active shooters in schools or dynamic SWAT operations. Pre-orders are scheduled to begin in November of 2025, though the pricing has not been announced.

This actually marks quite a major shift as far as Drone as First Responder or DFR programs, where so far they have been focused entirely on observation and situational awareness. This takes it kind of to the next level.

Georgia Prison Drone Smuggling: Three Arrested in Latest Bust

And then in our next story, and finally, a “don’t be that guy” segment. Three men were arrested near Washington State Prison in Georgia after deputies allegedly found them with a drone and other evidence that was quoted as indicative of an attempted drone drop.

Now, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, deputies allegedly spotted a suspicious vehicle that was leaving the prison area just after midnight on Saturday and then pulled them over for traffic violations. Inside they found the drone and arrested the three individuals on charges of trading with inmates and flying an unmanned aircraft.

Now, this is sadly not an isolated incident here in Georgia. This was the second major bust that they did at that prison in just 10 days. And then previously, four people were arrested for allegedly conducting a drone drop. The local sheriff reported that the office has stopped 21 attempted drone drops in 2024 alone. And then statewide, the Georgia Department of Corrections has logged over a thousand drone incidents since 2022.

Now, this problem is exactly why the FCC recently voted to potentially explore allowing states and local prisons to use cell phone jamming technology. The idea here is that jamming the signal would force the operator to get closer to the prison, making them much easier to catch.

It’s a reminder that the actions of a few bad actors unfortunately have a big impact on the perception of the entire industry and can lead to much more restrictions for everyone involved. So as always, please don’t be that guy.

Join Us on Postflight

And then on Postflight—this is the unfiltered show that we host on the premium community—we’re going to be talking about a story that we haven’t discussed in several months: the New Jersey drones. Yeah, more information actually came out this week, so join us if you want to hear more of our thoughts on this and the rest of the stories.

In the meantime, we’ll see you on Monday for the live and then back here next week as well. You have a great weekend and we’ll see you then.