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.
In July 2025, drone operator and filmmaker Nicolas Samsoen flew a DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise over two of Greenland’s most studied glaciers, generating high-resolution 3D photogrammetry models that are now feeding directly into academic research at the University of Aberdeen. The expedition, detailed in a press release published March 27, 2026, took place aboard the…
On June 2, Yuriy Kokhan was clearing a safe passage for his unit through woodland near a reservoir north of Toretsk when he spotted something on the ground that stopped him. It was a bird’s nest. And it wasn’t right. “That’s an Interesting Decision This Bird Has Made” Kokhan, 33, is a civil engineer by…
Ukraine just received its first batch of Linza 3.0 tactical drones from Quantum Frontline Industries, the Ukrainian-German joint venture that stood up its Bavarian production line barely four months ago, as reported by The Defense Post. The handover marks the shift from production setup to serial manufacturing — and signals that Europe’s defense-industrial cooperation with…
With four days to go before DJI’s official announcement, Igor Bogdanov’s @Quadro_news account has published the first set of official press images of the DJI Osmo Pocket 4 in a three-part photo set. DJI has confirmed April 16 as the announcement date across its social channels. What’s left to surprise us is rapidly shrinking. What…
I fly four drones for work. The Mini 5 Pro is the one I reach for first. That’s not a throwaway line. I use it almost every day, and it’s earned that spot in my kit by being the most versatile small drone DJI has ever made. As of April 11, the DJI Mini 5…
Honeywell Aerospace and California-based Odys Aviation have announced a collaboration to mount Honeywell’s SAMURAI counter-drone system on the Laila, a hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft built for long-range, runway-independent operations, as reported by UAS Weekly. The combined platform is designed to hunt hostile drones from the air before they reach critical infrastructure. What SAMURAI Actually Doe
Northwestern State University’s ARGO Lab just ran its first drone training program for soldiers at Fort Polk, Louisiana. The two-day course took troops from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division through the fundamentals of UAS operations, flight planning, sensor work, and field maintenance, as reported by National Today. What the Training Covered JD…
US defense startup XDOWN has unveiled the STUD (Small Tactical Unmanned Drone), a hand-launched UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) designed to reach active flight from a stowed position in two seconds. According to NextGen Defense, a single soldier can carry 8 to 12 units in a standard tactical backpack, launch them by hand, and let the…
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