News, deep dives, and analysis — every Florida story, newest 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…
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…
Hoverfly Technologies has launched Hoverfly Elements, a new business division selling NDAA-compliant drone components built for defense and commercial UAS manufacturers. The Sanford, Florida-based company unveiled the line at Xponential 2026, and its first products are drone motors and electronic speed controllers built with Korea Robot Manufacturing, plus GPS modules developed with Septentrio, a
BayCare will build a drone delivery network with Zipline across Florida’s Tampa Bay region, with the first flights scheduled for late 2027. The partnership puts lab samples, medications, and critical supplies in the air between hospitals and straight to patients’ homes. Service starts in the St. Petersburg-Clearwater area, then expands. It runs on the same…
XTI Aerospace’s Drone Nerds division added the RigiTech Eiger, a long-range delivery drone rated for 62 miles (100 km) per mission, to its enterprise portfolio. The Swiss-built aircraft takes off vertically, flies like a fixed-wing plane, and needs no runway. For a company that shelved a six-passenger air taxi in February to go all-in on…
Boynton Beach is getting a police drone first responder program, but not without a fight over the bill. On June 16 the city commission approved an Axon drone package in a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Aimee Kelley the lone no after she questioned the timing of the purchase during early budget talks. The drones will…
Welcome to your weekly UAS news update. I have three stories for you this week. The FCC opens the door for Chinese toy drones, but there’s a bit of a catch. Walmart and Wing are expanding their drone delivery operation. And then in Lee County, Florida, a DFR drone gets shot at with a BB…
A Lee County Sheriff’s Office drone searching for a bear in southwest Florida recorded a man pointing a BB gun at the aircraft and firing at least twice, and the footage put a federal felony on camera in real time. The arrest came Saturday, and the agency later released the video alongside footage of the…
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