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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.

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Zipline’s $7.6B Bet: The Economics of Delivering Burritos vs. Saving Lives
Zipline

Zipline’s $7.6B Bet: The Economics of Delivering Burritos vs. Saving Lives

The Verge’s Tim Stevens stood on a lawn in Rowlett, Texas last year and watched a strange-looking craft clear the trees, hover overhead, and lower a brown paper package on a thin rope. His lunch had arrived by drone. The whole experience lasted less than 30 seconds. It was, by all accounts, magical. But watching…

Ukrainian soldier with DJI Mavic 3 drone. Photo courtesy of Ukraine Ministry of Defense.
DJI

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry announces homegrown DJI Mavic replacement with longer range

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s newly appointed Defense Minister, has announced that Ukrainian troops will begin fielding a domestically produced replacement for the Chinese-made DJI Mavic drone. The homegrown alternative promises the same camera quality but with extended flight range, marking a significant step in reducing Kyiv’s dependency on Beijing-manufactured reconnaissance drones. The Developme

Behind the Scenes: Zipline's Drone Delivery Operations Unveiled
Zipline

Zipline reaches $7.6 billion valuation as Valor Equity Partners leads $600 million funding round

Watching Zipline’s trajectory from a Rwanda-based medical delivery startup to America’s largest autonomous delivery network has been one of the defining stories in commercial drone aviation. The company just reached a $7.6 billion valuation with a $600 million funding round led by Valor Equity Partners, a 52% increase from its $5 billion valuation in 2024.…

Minnesota Drone Sightings Spark ICE Surveillance Fears as Operation Metro Surge Reshapes What Flying Overhead Means - Mom, Can I Have An Air 3S? No, We Have a Mini 5 Pro at Home
Skydio

FCC Drone Ban Guarantees Higher Prices and Fewer Choices: NBC’s ‘Could’ is Wrong

NBC News published a detailed analysis this weekend examining the FCC’s sweeping foreign drone ban and its likely impact on American consumers. The reporting is solid, the sources are credible, and the conclusion is inevitable. But the headline hedges with “could raise prices and shrink choices” when every expert they interviewed confirms it absolutely will.…

Renault and Turgis Gaillard Confirm Drone Deal: Europe’s Struggling Automakers Found Their Exit Strategy
Ukraine

Renault and Turgis Gaillard Confirm Drone Deal: Europe’s Struggling Automakers Found Their Exit Strategy

Seven months ago, we reported that France’s defense ministry had approached Renault about drone production. At the time, Renault told Reuters that discussions had taken place but no decision had been made. Today, that deal is official, and the partnership reveals far more about Europe’s strategic recalculation than a standard defense contract announcement. Renault has…

Russia Recruiting 12,000 North Korean Workers For Shahed Drone Factory At $2.50 Per Hour
Ukraine

Russia’s Shahed Production Surge: Ukraine’s Top Commander Warns of 1,000 Drones Per Day by 2026

The numbers from Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi are stark: Russia currently produces 404 Shahed-type drones daily and plans to more than double that capacity to 1,000 units per day. That production target, revealed in an interview published Sunday by Ukrainian media outlet LB.ua, would represent a five to six-fold increase in Russia’s ability…

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