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.
Sentrycs, the Israeli counter-UAS company acquired by ONDAS last year, debuted a new man-portable cyber-over-RF detector called Scout at SOF Week in Tampa earlier this month. The product compresses the company’s fixed-site detection and mitigation stack into a battery-powered handheld unit aimed at tactical operators. Sentrycs is also fresh off World Cup security contracts and…
The Dallas City Council approved a $10.3 million FEMA grant Wednesday that expands the city’s existing Axon contract to cover counter-drone detection, tracking, and mitigation ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, as reported by Kera News. The grant moves the city’s total 10-year Axon agreement from roughly $267 million to more than $277 million.…
Portage County Sheriff’s Office deputies located a missing 91-year-old woman with a thermal-equipped drone at 11:51 p.m. on May 5, roughly 43 minutes after the initial call came in. She’d walked away from a residential care facility in Plover, Wisconsin sometime after 9:45 p.m. and ended up in a wooded area, as Waupaca Now reported.…
Papa Johns is the second major pizza chain to go airborne this year. The brand teamed up with Wing, Alphabet’s drone delivery subsidiary, to launch a pilot program in Indian Trail, North Carolina on May 11, as PMQ Pizza reported. Customers near Sun Valley Commons can now order three Oven Toasted Sandwiches through the Wing…
FlyGuys is returning as a partner for the Elevate Scholarship Program, joining the National Center for Autonomous Technologies to offer 300 scholarships that cover the $175 FAA Part 107 remote pilot test fee, as sUAS News reports. The program targets students ages 16 to 24 enrolled in aviation or uncrewed systems programs across the country.…
The Chula Vista Police Department announced this week that its Drone as First Responder (DFR) program has surpassed 25,000 missions since launch, making the agency that pioneered the entire model in 2018 the clearest proof yet that drone-led emergency response works at scale, as FOX 5 San Diego reported. The milestone matters because CVPD isn’t…
Fresno Police arrested two suspects last week after a Skydio X10 drone tracked their getaway car from a Dick’s Sporting Goods store in Northwest Fresno, marking another high-visibility win for the city’s recently launched Drone as First Responder program, as reported by ABC 30. According to Fresno PD, the case unfolded near Shaw and Valentine…
Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has proposed something that sounds like medieval warfare with a modern twist. Their answer to the country’s growing drone problem? Fire steel chains at quadcopters from a 40mm launcher and let physics do the rest, as reported by Tom’s Hardware. The research, led by Professor Claus Mattheck at KIT’s…
One email with the drone news that matters — DJI, FAA, public safety, and everything in between, straight from the newsroom. No spam, no fluff.
