DJI Ends Support, Matrice 30 Rescue, Shots Fired at Police Drone, 374 mph FPV Drone!

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update. We have four stories for you this week. DJI is ending support for certain drones and payloads, and we’re going to talk about which ones. We have a drone that helps rescue a missing person. Also, shots were fired at a police drone during a chase. And lastly, we’ll look at a new FPV world record. Let’s get to it.

DJI Ends Support for Legacy Enterprise Products

First up, DJI has announced that on January 30th, 2026, they will officially end all support for six of its legacy enterprise products, primarily the Matrice M200 V2, the M210 V2, and the M210 RTK V2. This is part of the company’s routine product life cycle management. It’s not really a big deal unless you’ve been relying on this platform for a while now.

After that date, let’s be clear, the drones are not going to drop out of the sky. However, there will be no more technical support, no official repairs, and no more firmware or compatibility troubleshooting. These were, and still are, the workhorses for many inspection, public safety, and surveying teams. I know some companies are still using them as well.

Also on that list are the Zenmuse XT and the XT2 thermal cameras, as well as the Lightbridge 2 transmission system, which are also going to be retired. DJI has recommended that users upgrade to newer models to take advantage of the improved technology and continued support. So, if your department or company is still using the Matrice 200 series, it might actually be time to start thinking about your next upgrade.

Drone Helps Rescue Missing 90-Year-Old Man

Next up, we have a real-world drones-for-good story. We like those. A drone was instrumental in rescuing a 90-year-old man who had been lost for about 12 hours in freezing temperatures. This happened in Atoka County, Oklahoma.

After a massive search that involved ground crews and even the National Guard, the Wagoner County Emergency Management Team was called in with their drone. The volunteer pilot was Eric Lane. He launched a DJI Matrice 30, and within just about 15 minutes, he was able to spot a clear heat signature in the woods using the thermal camera on the drone. He switched to the visual camera to confirm, and then he was able to see the missing man, who was curled up with his dog trying to stay warm.

Lane then used the drone’s onboard speaker to let the man know that help was on the way. This is just a fantastic example of how thermal cameras are saving lives and changing search and rescue for the better. Congratulations to Eric and the whole team. That was awesome.

Shots Fired at Police Drone During Chase

In our third story this week, an incident in Lee’s Summit, Missouri highlights both the value and the growing risks of using drones in law enforcement. According to KCTV, police were responding to reports of a man who was trying to get into locked cars. In an effort to find him, they launched a drone, which was also a Matrice 30T.

Like in the last story, the drone quickly located the man who was walking through a driveway and testing different car handles. When the suspect realized he was being watched from above, he allegedly pulled out a firearm and fired two shots at the drone. Thankfully, he missed and the drone continued its mission.

The live feed allowed officers on the ground to track the suspect as he ran through different backyards, eventually leading to his arrest. A K9 unit later recovered the stolen 9mm pistol that the suspect had reportedly dropped along the way. This case is yet another demonstration of how drones provide situational awareness for the entire team on the ground and make police work a lot safer.

FPV World Record Broken at 374 mph

Finally, an FPV world record has been broken yet again, this time by a significant margin. The team at DronePro Hub built and flew a custom FPV drone at a verified speed of 374 mph (603 km/h), which is just insane.

To put that in perspective, that’s nearly half the speed of sound—Mach 0.49—which is incredible. The new record smashes the old one set just a couple of weeks ago when Luke Bell flew a Peregrine 3 that reached 585 km/h, compared to 603 km/h for this new one.

What’s really impressive here is the engineering journey behind building this drone. This wasn’t just about putting big motors on a frame. The engineer, Ben Biggs, and the whole team at DronePro Hub said they spent 17 months designing the entire drone from the ground up in CAD. The first 8 months were spent on initial testing and speed runs of 200 and 300 km/h.

The real breakthrough came when they analyzed the flight data, which revealed that the drone’s body itself was creating significant aerodynamic drag. So they redesigned it, slimmed the nose, smoothed the body, and managed to cut out 18% of the drag. From there, they were able to start hitting speeds of 540 km/h and eventually reached 374 mph.

This might not be practical for most of us on everyday flights, but there are tons of lessons learned here about aerodynamics, vibration, and power systems. This could absolutely lead to more stable, more efficient drones for everyone down the line. It’s a fantastic story of engineering and perseverance. Congratulations to the team.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​