United States

Drone policy, incidents, and industry news across the United States — from statehouses to the national airspace.

2,563

Articles

180

Beats covered

Reporters on beat

Aug 20

Last updated

Close-up of a DJI Mini 5 Pro in flight, its gimbal camera and forward sensors facing the viewer against blurred green trees.

United States · OPERATORS

DJI Ban Hits Home: Drone Pilots Ask Whether Their Businesses Survive

A new Part 107 pilot asked Facebook if the DJI ban killed his drone business before launch. 268 comments show what operators face ahead of September 3.

Haye KestelooAug 206 min read

A U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter hovers low over a forest lake, lowering an orange Bambi Bucket into the water as rotor wash sprays mist across the surface.

Drone Incidents

FBI Task Force Forced Down Hobby Drones Over Spokane Wildfires

An FBI-led counter-drone unit built for the FIFA World Cup detected 41 unauthorized drones over the Spokane wildfires in four days and used electronic countermeasures to force them down. No pilots were arrested; the cases went to the FAA with fines of up to $100,000 each.

Haye KestelooAug 20

AUVSI President and CEO Michael Robbins on stage at XPONENTIAL Detroit in May 2026, weeks after defending the FCC's expanded Covered List.

ADVOCACY

DSPA Presses AUVSI To Back Operators Over Bans After Robbins Exit

DSPA calls on AUVSI to reset after Michael Robbins' exit: back drone operators, demand evidence, and judge drones on risk, not country of origin.

Haye KestelooAug 20

Auterion drone swarm software coordinating multiple uncrewed aircraft as a single AI-guided strike formation

Counter-Drone

Northcom Cannot Stop A Homeland Drone Swarm. Its Deputy Commander Said So.

Asked if he could defeat a drone swarm launched inside U.S. borders, Northcom's deputy commander said no. Nine days earlier, five autonomous drones hit a tank in Maryland.

Haye KestelooAug 19

RESEARCH

Duke University Drone Tracks Another Drone Using Only Its Sound

Duke's SonicFly follower quadcopter chases a leader drone with a 10-gram microphone array, no GPS sharing, no radio link, and no camera.

Haye KestelooAug 18

AUVSI President and CEO Michael Robbins speaking on stage at XPONENTIAL Detroit in May 2026.

LOBBYING

AUVSI's Robbins Exits For SIA As The Drone Ban He Backed Rolls On

Michael Robbins leaves AUVSI September 30 to run the Semiconductor Industry Association, the industry he spent three years telling drone makers to copy.

Haye KestelooAug 18

El Paso Police Department drone-as-first-responder operations along the Texas border

Counter-Drone

Texas Wants Counter-Drone Power. Only 61 US Officers Are Certified.

El Paso police told Texas senators they have tracked 1,776 cross-border cartel drone incursions and need more authority to respond. Congress already granted that authority in December. The constraint is a single FBI school in Alabama that has certified 61 officers nationwide.

Haye KestelooAug 18

Quadcopter delivery drone with a red-and-yellow chevron-marked cargo box flying against an overcast sky

WHOLE BLOOD

Hillsborough County Hasn't Voted on Its Blood Drone Program Yet

Hillsborough County commissioners decide September 2 whether the nation's first EMS whole blood drone program flies in October. The wire coverage already calls it launched.

Haye KestelooAug 18

United States

The drone industry moves fast. Stay ahead of it.