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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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The A-29 Super Tucano Just Got an AI Brain for Hunting Drones
Counter-Drone

The A-29 Super Tucano Just Got an AI Brain for Hunting Drones

Brazil’s legendary light attack aircraft is getting an American AI upgrade. The target is cheap drones. The logic is simple and devastating, as Flight Global reported. The Problem With Using a Ferrari to Chase a Bicycle Every time a Western air force scrambles an F-16 to intercept a Shahed-series drone, the math is brutal. A…

Green Berets Learn to Build, Break, and Fix Drones at Fort Carson
Ukraine

Green Berets Learn to Build, Break, and Fix Drones at Fort Carson

Three weeks. Soldering irons, tactical ranges, and high winds over Colorado. The 10th Special Forces Group just graduated its latest class of drone operators. These ones can also repair what they fly. Three Weeks on the Range and in the Classroom From February 9 through February 27, Green Berets from the 10th Special Forces Group…

A Ukrainian Drone Came Home with a Russian Trident Stuck in It
Russia

A Ukrainian Drone Came Home with a Russian Trident Stuck in It

A bomber drone flew a strike mission over Kharkiv, Ukrain survived, and returned to base impaled by two feet of nails and steel rods shaped into a trident. Nobody had seen this before. The Drone That Came Home Wrong Late last month, a Ukrainian Backfire fixed-wing heavy bomber drone completed a strike mission in Ukraine’s…

Drones Fly Over Texas A&M's Mock Disaster City in Mass Casualty Drill
First Responders

Drones Fly Over Texas A&M’s Mock Disaster City in Mass Casualty Drill

Six hundred students. A fake bioterrorism attack. A simulated explosion. And drones flying overhead until midnight for ten straight days. This is how America trains its next generation of emergency responders. A City Built to Burn, Flood, and Collapse Disaster City is not a metaphor. It is a real 52-acre facility in College Station, Texas,…

Parallel Flight Firefly Clears FAA Hurdle, Heads to Market
Industry

Parallel Flight Firefly Clears FAA Hurdle, Heads to Market

California’s Parallel Flight Technologies just received the regulatory green light that changes everything for the company. The FAA has granted the Firefly heavy-lift drone a Section 44807 exemption, authorizing commercial operations in U.S. airspace, as UAVHQ reported. This is not a small milestone. The Section 44807 exemption is the specific legal pathway for unmanned aircraft…

EU Motors Opens Florida Plant to Build Drone Motors in America
Florida

EU Motors Opens Florida Plant to Build Drone Motors in America

A Polish drone motor manufacturer just opened a production facility in South Florida, and the reason it exists at all tells you everything about where the U.S. drone industry is headed. EU Motors, one of the largest brushless DC motor producers outside of China, opened EU Motors USA in Hallandale Beach, Broward County, on February…

Tennessee Guard Buys FPV Strike Drones for Training
Ukraine

Tennessee Guard Buys FPV Strike Drones for Training

The Tennessee Army National Guard is procuring three types of small unmanned aircraft for training and operational support, according Defence Blog and solicitation documents published March 7, 2026. The request covers six total systems across three platforms, all required to carry Blue UAS certification, the U.S. military’s security clearance program for small drones. The procurement…

16 Teams Battle for Drone Soccer Title at SUNY Poly
Education

16 Teams Battle for Drone Soccer Title at SUNY Poly

Sixteen teams of students aged 12 to 18 are descending on Utica, New York this Sunday for the 2026 U.S. Drone Soccer District II Championship, as Utica Phoenix reports. Glowing drones. A netted arena. Three-minute sets of full-contact aerial combat. Welcome to the fastest growing youth tech sport in America. What Drone Soccer Actually Is…

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8,400+
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Beats & desks
2020
Covering drones since
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