Alabama

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Oct 21

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Aerial view of Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, with empty grandstands wrapped around a green field

Alabama · Legal

Birmingham's $500 Drone Fine Spares Pilots Who Follow FAA Rules

Birmingham police can now write $500 drone tickets near ticketed events, starting with the Magic City Classic. HB 429 exempts FAA-legal flights.

Haye KestelooOct 214 min read

Pilot Institute

DJI Neo 3 Unboxing Leak, 71,207-Drone Record, FAA $12M, FBI School

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update. We have four stories for you this week: the DJI Neo 3 has a video leak, Sky Elements sets a Guinness World Record, the FAA hands out $12 million to drone test sites, and the FBI doubles its counter-drone school capacity.

Greg ReverdiauOct 9

Entrance canopy of the FBI campus at Redstone Arsenal with large blue lettering reading Federal Bureau of Investigation, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, above five guard booths

Counter-Drone

FBI Drone School to Double Capacity After 700 World Cup Seizures

DOJ's No. 3 says the FBI's Redstone Arsenal counter-drone school will more than double capacity. It is the only gate to new police drone takedown powers.

Haye KestelooOct 5

Five people stand behind a table of quadcopter drones and laptops, between a Blue Arrow banner and a KEF Robotics banner

Department of Defense

Orqa, KEF And Blue Arrow Beat GPS Jamming In Front Of Green Berets

Orqa drones running KEF Robotics navigation and Blue Arrow's RII software flew recon and payload missions under GPS and radio jamming in Alabama.

Haye KestelooSep 23

Pilot Institute host presenting the week 381 drone news update, with headlines about the Mavic 4 Pro being shot down, GoPro selling 90% ownership and new Remote ID detection

DJI

DJI Mavic 4 Pro Shot Down in Alabama, GoPro Sells 90% of Itself, UAS Sentry Launches Nexus Observer: This Week in Drone News

A real estate photographer's DJI Mavic 4 Pro is shot out of the sky in Athens, Alabama, GoPro hands 90% of the company to Starman Optical, and UAS Sentry unveils the $1,595 Nexus Observer portable Remote ID detector.

Greg ReverdiauSep 4

DJI Mavic 4

DJI Mavic 4 Pro Shot Out of Alabama Sky, Shooter Risks 20 Years

A gunshot brought down a real estate photographer's DJI Mavic 4 Pro camera drone over Athens, Alabama. Federal law calls that destroying an aircraft.

Haye KestelooSep 2

DJI Air 3S Review: Professional Filmmaker Puts Drone to the Test

Department of Homeland Security

DHS Wants to Fund the FBI’s Counter-Drone School Because It’s Already Full, Mid-World Cup

The Department of Homeland Security wants to route its own money into the FBI’s counter-drone training center because demand for seats has outrun capacity in the middle of the FIFA World Cup, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin told the House Appropriations Committee on June 26. The admission is the candid part of a hearing that was…

Haye KestelooJun 29

Mavic 3 vs Mavic 3 Pro - WORTH UPGRADING?

DJI

FBI Counter-Drone Force For World Cup 2026 Will Run Just 60 Officers Across 11 Host Cities

The FBI will field roughly 60 specially trained state and local police officers across FIFA World Cup 2026 venues to detect and electronically disable hostile drones, according to a Bloomberg report published May 15. The bureau takes direct command of counter-drone operations in three U.S. host cities. Department of Homeland Security components cover the other…

Haye KestelooMay 16

Alabama

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