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Lorenz Meier picked a fight with half the defense industry on July 1. The Auterion founder, creator of the Pixhawk flight controller and the widely adopted open-source PX4 autopilot, published an essay arguing that the United States, Germany, and Ukraine now buy attack drones the way consumers buy cell phones: interchangeable hardware, replaced every two…
Thales agreed on Monday to buy the Gorgé family’s 35.51% stake in Exail Technologies for €134 per share ($153), the first step in a full takeover of the French maritime drone maker at an enterprise value of €3.9 billion ($4.45 billion). The agreement lands three days after rival Safran abandoned its own exclusive talks for…
Ukraine plans to sign drone agreements with at least seven NATO countries before the end of 2026, and some signatures could come as soon as this week’s alliance summit in Ankara. Davyd Aloian, deputy secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, set the target in an interview published Monday. Six countries have already signed:…
Steffanie Rivers, who runs TCB Drones Academy in Dallas, announced a national program on July 4 to steer students at historically Black colleges and universities toward careers in drones and aviation. She is calling it the National HBCU Aviation and Drone Leadership Initiative. Rivers, a Tennessee State University graduate who describes herself as the first…
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Department of Transportation broke ground on June 25 on the Vertical Take-Off and Landing Procedures and Analysis Range, or V-PAR, at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City. The roughly $8.3 million facility gives the agency its first dedicated range for studying how electric and hybrid vertical…
The FBI said Saturday it has seized more than 600 drones flying in restricted airspace around FIFA World Cup 2026 venues since the tournament opened on June 11, with confiscations recorded in all 11 U.S. host cities. Miami leads the tally at 99 seized drones, followed by Atlanta at 77 and Dallas at 63. The…
A Pasco Sheriff’s Office drone found a missing man in the woods outside San Antonio, Florida, in the dark early hours of July 2, using a thermal camera to pick his body heat out of the surrounding trees. Deputies got the call around 3:25 a.m., put a drone in the air, and used the aerial…
Sky Elements Drone Shows put more than 700 drones over Lake Carolyn on Friday night, July 3, headlining Sparks & Stripes, the City of Irving’s two-day celebration of America’s 250th birthday. The drones opened the night at Levy Event Plaza in Las Colinas, and a traditional fireworks finale closed it. Eighteen months after DroneXL reported…
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