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Rafael Suárez

Rafael Suárez

Rafael Suárez is a drone journalist and content creator with more than 20 years behind the lens. He began in film photography in 1998, moved to digital in 2005, and has been flying and filming with drones since 2016. As a commercial videographer he has produced work for premium brands including BMW, Porsche, and MINI, and his documentary work champions a #flysafe mentality across the industry. Based in Quito, Ecuador, he covers drone news, hardware, and the policy and business shaping the industry for DroneXL, and shares reviews and cinematic flight on his YouTube channel. A dad and a lifelong aviation nerd, he's happiest when something is in the air.

1,178
Articles
144
Beats covered
2025
Writing since
Aug 13
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amazon drone uav delivery fly work uas Amazon Prime Air Drone Delivery Nears Reality in Italy with ENAC Partnership
Amazon

Amazon Lands in South Africa, but Prime Air Stays Home

Amazon just launched Prime in South Africa at 59 rand a month, and shoppers got same-day delivery, discounts, even cloud gaming. What they didn’t get is a single delivery drone. Prime Air isn’t coming, and when Amazon’s own regional boss was asked about it, he had nothing to say. The silence is the story, because…

Nashville Police Launch 45-Day Skydio DFR Pilot
Skydio

Skydio Drones Fly Nashville Before Council Signs Off

Metro Nashville Police put three Skydio drones in the air over the Madison precinct before the Metro Council ever signed off, and now the program is catching heat for it. The department says a legal exemption let it skip approval. A council member and community organizers say that reading bends the rules. The drones are…

Ukraine's Adis Bomber Drone Flies on Satellite Link
Ukraine

Ukraine’s Adis Bomber Drone Flies on Satellite Link

Ukrainian company Martyn Tech just unveiled a heavy bomber quadcopter called Adis, and its headline feature isn’t the payload. It’s the satellite link. By controlling the drone through a satellite rather than a direct radio signal, the operator no longer has to sit near the front line to fly a mission. Hey, DJI folks, what…

Cathedral City Drones Hit 90% Coverage on DJI Hardware
DJI

Cathedral City Drones Hit 90% Coverage on DJI Hardware

Cathedral City Police now cover roughly 90 percent of the city from three rooftop drone docks, and they did it on DJI hardware while half the country is being told to rip Chinese drones off the roof. The department has flown drones since 2018, but the Drone as First Responder expansion is the part that’s…

Matternet Goes Public With $33M Reverse Merger
Matternet

Matternet Goes Public With $33M Reverse Merger

Matternet closed a $33 million private placement and went public last week through a reverse merger with shell company Los Altos Ventures Corp., now renamed Matternet Inc. The deal makes Matternet the first pure play drone delivery company on U.S. public markets, a milestone the company has been positioning for since landing FAA type certification…

North Richland Hills Police Launch Skydio DFR Trial
Skydio

North Richland Hills Police Launch Skydio DFR Trial

North Richland Hills police are launching a Skydio Drone as First Responder trial this month, putting eyes on accident scenes and active emergencies before the first patrol unit arrives. Two docking stations will sit at a strategic central location in the city, letting pilots launch a drone in as little as 20 seconds. The trial…

EHang Flies 22,580 Drones, Breaks Guinness Record
EHang

EHang Flies 22,580 Drones, Breaks Guinness Record

EHang shattered the Guinness World Record for drone light shows on February 3, 2026, flying 22,580 drones simultaneously from a single computer over Hefei’s Luogang Park. Of the swarm loaded for launch, only about 25 drones failed to lift off. The performance aired during China Media Group’s Spring Festival Gala on February 16, beaming the…

Colombia Arms DJI Matrice 300 Drones With Grenades
DJI

Colombia Arms DJI Matrice 300 Drones With Grenades

Colombia just acquired 3,744 grenades built to fall from drones, and the aircraft doing the dropping are off-the-shelf DJI Matrice 300 RTK quadcopters. The grenades are homemade by the state arms maker Indumil, and they’re already in service with the Army’s drone battalion. It’s the clearest sign yet of where Colombia’s long fight against armed…

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8,400+
Articles published
340+
Beats & desks
2020
Covering drones since
100%
Independent