Haye Kesteloo is the Editor in Chief and Founder of DroneXL.co, where he covers all drone-related news, DJI rumors and writes drone reviews, and of EVXL.co, for all electric vehicle news. Haye can be reached at haye @ dronexl.co or @hayekesteloo.
More than 200 university teams competed in military drone scenarios organized by China’s top defense leadership, revealing Beijing’s systematic campaign to recruit young talent for autonomous warfare development. The final round of China’s National Youth Intelligent Unmanned Systems Application Competition drew over 200 teams from 106 universities to Shanghai last week, according to a China…
Three years ago, Fire Point was scouting locations for Ukrainian film productions. Today, it’s a $1 billion defense contractor producing long-range strike drones and cruise missiles that are pounding Russian infrastructure. But the company’s meteoric rise has triggered a corruption investigation examining inflated pricing, quality concerns, and alleged ties to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s former
Ukraine’s rapid advances in AI-powered drone warfare are running into a fundamental obstacle that no amount of software innovation can overcome: the physical limits of what computing power a small drone can carry into battle. A comprehensive investigation by the Kyiv Independent reveals that despite deploying thousands of AI-enabled systems and achieving dramatic improvements in…
An FDNY drone successfully rescued a person from the East River on Saturday, using cutting-edge technology to drop flotation markers that guided emergency crews to a drowning victim near the Queensboro Bridge. The life-saving operation demonstrates the tangible value of New York’s massive investment in emergency response technology. The rescue showcases how drones have evolved…
New York Governor Kathy Hochul is investing $127 million in law enforcement surveillance technology across the state, with Monroe County receiving $24 million—the largest share of any county. Rochester Police Department plans to use $8 million of its allocation to upgrade a 20-year-old blue light camera system and purchase additional drones specifically for crowd control…
Florida-based Unusual Machines has secured its largest Pentagon contract to date, winning a deal to supply 3,500 drone motors and components to the U.S. Army—just months after Donald Trump Jr. joined the company as an adviser with a $4 million stake. The Financial Times first reported the contract award on Friday, reigniting conflict-of-interest concerns that…
Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation is testing automated drones to inspect railway tunnels, slashing inspection times from 30 minutes to less than 10 minutes per kilometer. The trial, conducted in the tunnel between Admiralty and Exhibition Centre stations on the East Rail line, is part of Hong Kong’s ambitious 38-project regulatory sandbox program designed to accelerate…
California-based startup Seneca has emerged from stealth mode with $60 million in funding to deploy AI-powered autonomous firefighting drones capable of suppressing wildfires within minutes of detection. The round, believed to be the largest early-stage investment in wildfire defense technology, was led by Caffeinated Capital and Convective Capital. Founded by Stuart Landesberg—who previously buil
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