FAA
FAA Air Traffic COO Tells XPONENTIAL: ‘We See Drones As Aircraft, Operators As Pilots’
FAA ATO COO McIntosh at XPONENTIAL Detroit: drones treated as aircraft, operators as pilots; new radar data sharing test program coming in two weeks.
Haye Kesteloo
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. Also on LinkedIn, Muck Rack, Instagram and YouTube.
6,555
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2020
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Department of Defense
AUVSI’s Robbins Defends Broader-Than-Asked FCC Drone Ban; Pentagon’s Cadenazzi Sets 2026 Section 805 Pilot Timeline
AUVSI's Robbins defends the broader-than-asked FCC drone ban at XPONENTIAL Detroit; Pentagon's Cadenazzi confirms Section 805 enforcement pilots for 2026.
Paladin Drones
Paladin Drones Floats $8,000 30-Day DFR Trial As Flock Hands Out Free Pilots
Paladin Drones is offering public safety agencies a 30-day pilot of its Drone as First Responder system for $8,000, with the entry fee credited back against a full contract for up to three consecutive 30-day periods. The Houston company announced the offer on X Monday, telling agencies to book a demo before June 30 to…
Ukraine
Ukraine Fiber Optic Spool Prices Jump More Than Eightfold As AI Data Center Demand Squeezes Drone Supply
A Ukrainian drone operator says his unit is now paying more than eight times what it used to for the fiber optic spools that feed their jam-proof FPV drones. Dimko Zhluktenko, co-founder of the Dzyga’s Paw charity fund and now serving with Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, said in a May 10 post on X that…
DJI
DJI Air 4 Caught In Chinese Flight-Filing App, The First Registry-Level Sighting
The DJI Air 4 has surfaced inside a Chinese drone flight-reporting app, sitting in a dropdown menu of selectable aircraft alongside the already-shipping Insta360 Antigravity A1. The screenshot, posted Monday by drone leaker Igor Bogdanov on X with the caption “Caught…Air 4,” is the first known appearance of the unannounced model in a regulatory-adjacent piece…
DJI
FCC Extends Foreign Drone Firmware Waiver To January 2029, Concedes Cutting Off Patches Would Be Worse Than The Ban
The Federal Communications Commission‘s Office of Engineering and Technology released Public Notice DA 26-454 on Friday, May 8, 2026, extending its waiver for software and firmware updates to previously authorized foreign-made drones, UAS critical components, and consumer routers until at least January 1, 2029. The earlier deadlines were January 1, 2027 for drones and March…
DJI
Rheinmetall And Deutsche Telekom Unveil German Drone Shield Built On Cellular Detection
Germany’s largest defense contractor and its biggest mobile carrier announced a joint drone defense shield on Monday, combining Rheinmetall’s air defense hardware with Deutsche Telekom’s cellular network and radio frequency sensors to protect cities and critical infrastructure. The companies will present the system at the AFCEA security trade show in Bonn this week. The partnership…
China
DJI Brings Osmo Pocket 4P To Cannes On May 14, Mid-Film Festival
DJI has set the date and venue for the Osmo Pocket 4P reveal. The company posted matching teasers Monday from its global and Japan X accounts confirming a Cannes, France event on May 14, 2026 at 17:00 CEST. That date lands inside the 79th Cannes Film Festival, which runs from May 12 to May 23.…
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