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Haye Kesteloo

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.

6,442
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2020
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Lawmakers Urge Biden to Halt Export Licenses for Chinese Drone Giant DJI - DJI Logo on office building Chinese drone maker
DJI

DJI’s former sales VP detained in China on bribery charges, accused of “huge” illicit gains

Chinese authorities have criminally detained DJI’s former Vice President of Sales on suspicion of accepting bribes during a five-year tenure that coincided with the drone giant’s most turbulent period of global regulatory pressure. The executive, identified only by surname Yuan, oversaw DJI’s entire global sales operation from May 2019 through May 2024. The detention was…

Chinese Drone Makers Secretly Collaborate with Sanctioned Russian Arms Manufacturer
First Responders

Iran’s drone blueprint gave Russia a mass-production weapon it could never build alone

The wreckage of a new high-speed drone found in Ukraine in early January confirmed what we’ve been tracking for months: Russia’s Iranian-designed drone fleet is evolving faster than Western sanctions can contain it. A new analysis from Amy McAuliffe, former assistant director of the CIA for weapons and counterproliferation and now at the University of…

Tennessee asks for $1.7M in drone detection tech as prison contraband airdrops keep coming
Police

Tennessee asks for $1.7M in drone detection tech as prison contraband airdrops keep coming

Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada told state lawmakers on Tuesday that drone-delivered contraband is no longer an occasional annoyance. It is one of the most significant security threats his facilities face. His department is requesting $1.7 million in funding for drone detection technology to address what he called a necessary response to an…

Dji Mini 3 pro - DJI Tightens Drone Rebinding Rules Starting June 19, 2025: What Pilots Need to Know
Europe

EU Commission’s New Drone Action Plan Hides a Bombshell: 100-Gram Registration Threshold Coming to Europe

The European Commission published a sweeping new action plan on Wednesday aimed at fixing Europe’s embarrassing inability to detect and stop hostile drones. The headline is about counter-drone detection. The real story is buried in the details: Brussels wants to extend mandatory registration and identification requirements to all drones weighing more than 100 grams, matching…

FAA shut down El Paso airspace for 10 days over Pentagon laser test gone wrong
Department of Defense

FAA shut down El Paso airspace for 10 days over Pentagon laser test gone wrong

The FAA grounded every flight in and out of El Paso International Airport late Tuesday night, classifying the airspace as “National Defense Airspace” with deadly force authorization. The restriction was set to last 10 days. It lasted about eight hours. And the official explanations still don’t match. Here is what we know so far: The…

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