Welcome to your weekly UAS news update. We have four stories for you this week. DSPA asks Congress to look at the Blue UAS report. We have 15 states that are suing the FAA over drone delivery. We have DJI’s next enterprise drone leaking in China. And finally, Skydio unveils a new fixed-wing drone and a robotic dock. So, let’s get to it.
DSPA Wants Every Drone Pilot and First Responder to Call Congress
The Drone Service Providers Alliance is asking every drone pilot and first responder in the country to call Congress. Now, this is a group that normally lobbies for commercial drone operators. Its CEO, Vic Moss, says the issue here is big enough that they need to step outside of their lane a little bit.
If you haven’t seen the report yet, DHS tested six different Blue UAS listed drones and two Chinese drones in a New York City environment, where, as you can imagine, it’s pretty complex.
From the Blue UAS list, three of them actually could not hold position, one had a flyaway, and another one failed to pair with the controller for up to 15 minutes. The results for the Chinese drone testing were not publicly released, but we were still able to get that report through an anonymous source.
Of the six Blue UAS drones that were tested, the Skydio X10 came out with the best overall score of 3.7 out of 5. The only other aircraft that was able to be tested in the complex urban environment was the Parrot Anafi USA Gov edition, which got a 2.4 out of 5.
Now, the For Official Use Only report that tested the two DJI drones showed an overall score of 4.6 and 4.3 for the Matrice 4T and the Matrice 30T, respectively. One has to actually wonder why the assessment of these two specific drones was hidden from the general public, but you probably know the answer.
Problems with the Blue aircraft included latency, connection issues, slow boot-up time, and slow connection time as well. Based on the results from the public report, DSPA wants Congress to name an agency to test every manufacturer’s security the same exact way they’re testing usability in these reports, regardless of the country of origin.
If you fly commercially or if you’re flying for public safety, it’s probably worth five minutes for you to get on the phone with a representative, or even send an email, and let them know they should be taking action here.
15 States and Harris County Are Suing the FAA Over Drone Delivery
Next up, 15 states and Harris County, Texas are suing the FAA. New York’s Attorney General filed the case on September 28th. The target here is a nationwide environmental clearance the FAA issued in July. That clearance lets the FAA approve new drone delivery markets without having to do an environmental study for every single one of them.
The states are saying the FAA barely addressed the lithium battery fire risk, even after an Amazon drone battery burned here in Arizona, near a home, last October.
No stay has been requested yet, so drone deliveries are going to keep on flying for now, but it’s another hurdle for drone delivery.
DJI Matrice 5D Leaks in China, 750 Grams Heavier Than the Matrice 4TD
The DJI Matrice 5D has been leaked in China. It’s listed at just over 3 kg, which is about 750 grams heavier than the current Matrice 4TD, which is actually quite a bit of a jump. Keep in mind, these specs come from a leaker, not from DJI, so treat it as unconfirmed for right now. But this specific leaker has a pretty good track record with DJI specs, so it’s more than likely going to be true.
Now, the extra weight here means there’s probably LiDAR or a built-in RTK antenna in the drone itself directly.
This is unfortunately not one we’re going to see in the US, as DJI aircraft cannot get approval from the FCC, but it goes to show that DJI is just going to continue to innovate and produce new aircraft for the rest of the world.
Skydio Shows the Production F10 Lightrunner and the MegaDock
Skydio, at its yearly in-person event, showed the production version of its F10 Lightrunner that was introduced last year at the same event, with quite a bit more detail and refinement than the initial announcement. The company says it can hit 100 miles per hour, cover a 30-mile radius, and stay on mission for up to two hours.
It launches and lands from something they call the MegaDock. It uses a robotic arm to grab the aircraft out of the air right in front of that big dock. There’s no runway needed, no person standing there to catch the aircraft. They have a tray where a bunch of them are lined up, and then they can pick up the next one to go.
Skydio also announced new software that they call Asset Command for utility inspection, and Security Command for autonomous property patrols. The pitch here is fewer pilots watching individual drones, and more autonomous systems covering pretty much an entire county or utility corridor.
Skydio says the F10 will actually not reach customers until 2027, and pricing was not released at the time. Based on the infrastructure required for the MegaDock, it’s likely in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars.
This conversation is going to continue on Post Flight, where we’re going to talk about all of these stories uncensored in the premium community. Link is in the description. We’ll see you on the live Q&A on Monday. Have a great weekend, and don’t be that guy.
This article is based on a video from our YouTube partner Greg Reverdiau. Watch the full weekly UAS news update on the Pilot Institute YouTube channel, and find more of Greg’s work on his DroneXL author page.
