In a recent Bloomberg Opinion piece, columnist Thomas Black argues that the forced transition from Chinese-made drones to American alternatives is a “necessary pain” required to secure our national supply chain. He frames this transition as a messy spreadsheet calculation,…
Florida destroyed $200 million in functional public safety drones citing Chinese espionage threats, provided only $25 million for inferior replacements that catch fire and fall from the sky, and never published the security analysis that was supposed to justify it…
French drone manufacturers are scrambling to finalize co-production agreements with Ukraine before 2025 ends, but face stiff competition from Britain and Germany, which have already established direct funding channels and secured battlefield-proven partnerships. The November 17 meeting between Presidents Emmanuel…
More than 500 Chinese-made drones confiscated under Florida’s controversial 2023 ban are getting a second (short) life as target practice for US Special Operations Command, according to Bloomberg News. The quadcopters, originally headed for the incinerator, will instead be shot…
The New York Police Department conducted 6,546 drone flights in the first six months of 2025, representing a 3,200% increase since 2022, according to a new report by civil rights watchdog Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.). The explosive growth raises…
Welcome to your weekly US news update from Pilot Institute. We have three important stories this week that show both the risks and benefits of drone operations. A police drone crashed and injured a child. A thermal drone helped rescue…
Utah engineering firm unveils NDAA-compliant parts marketplace and MOSA-first FPV platform as Pentagon drone orders surge. While defense contractors battle for Blue UAS contracts, a Salt Lake City engineering firm is solving a more fundamental problem: sourcing the thousands of…
German defense giant Rheinmetall has acquired a significant stake in U.S. drone software leader Auterion, signaling a massive industry shift where hardware manufacturers finally admit that future wars will be fought with code, not just explosives. Rheinmetall, the manufacturer behind…
The DJI Avata 360 has secured FCC certification on November 19, 2025, clearing the regulatory hurdle that allows the company to legally sell its groundbreaking 360-degree FPV drone in the United States. But there’s a catch: this approval comes just…
DJI has officially invested in the parent company of ELEGOO, a leading manufacturer of consumer 3D printers, in a move widely seen as a strategic hedge against potential U.S. bans.
Black Friday has delivered massive discounts on beginner-friendly camera drones, with DJI Flip, Mini 4K, Mini 3, Neo and Skyrover models seeing price cuts between 20-30% across the board. These sub-250 gram drones require no FAA registration for recreational pilots,…
French tethered drone manufacturer Elistair has unveiled a new configuration of its Khronos system that combines persistent surveillance with tactical communications in a single platform, addressing one of modern warfare’s most persistent logistics headaches. The Khronos Dual Payload debuted at…