News, deep dives, and analysis — every Florida story, newest first.
Israeli drone maker XTEND is heading to the public markets through a $1.5 billion reverse merger with Florida based JFB Construction Holdings, a Nasdaq listed contractor whose core business until now has had little to do with defense robotics, as Bloomberg reports. The combined company will rebrand as XTEND AI Robotics and trade under the…
Florida based advanced air mobility company AIR has officially pulled the curtain back on the DrN 600, an uncrewed electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft that is clearly designed to do something rare in this industry: actually work for a living. Why my Neo 2 can’t be like this? The announcement marks a public debut,…
Tampa Police are stepping into a future where training does not begin on the street but inside a headset, surrounded by pixels that behave like pressure, noise, and uncertainty, as 10 Tampa Bay reports. Thanks to federal funding, officers and recruits now train with virtual reality simulations that recreate real world encounters where decisions matter…
I’ve been tracking Florida’s disastrous DJI drone ban for over a year, and the bill is finally coming due. When we first reported on St. Cloud’s $890,000 Drone as a First Responder (DFR) program last month, the story was about the exorbitant cost of compliance. Now, new data shows the program is an operational success,…
We have been reporting on how private equity and venture capital are reshaping the drone industry for years. Today, The New York Times published an investigation that exposes the identical playbook being used against volunteer fire departments, and the parallels are impossible to ignore. The pattern is now undeniable: Wall Street investors are systematically targeting…
Arizona fire chief warns looming DJI ban will cost lives: "In my opinion, lives are going to be lost because this air capability is going to be taken away."
The Army’s push to scale up unmanned systems took a public step forward during the Drone Maneuver Competition at the National Drone Association Conference in Winter Park, Florida, where the Army Drone Team demonstrated speed, accuracy and teamwork, while showing how competitive flying can strengthen real-world operational skill, according to The Department of War press…
The St. Cloud Police Department has become the first in Central Florida to implement a fully autonomous “Drone as First Responder” (DFR) program, according to AirMed&Rescue. It is a move that highlights the soaring cost of public safety compliance under Florida’s strict new anti-China drone laws. While the program promises to reduce response times, it…
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