Texas · ERIC TALLEY AWARD
DRONERESPONDERS Honors The Texas Program Behind 100,000 Sorties
Greg Whiting took the Eric Talley Public Safety UAS Excellence Award at Commercial UAV Expo, days after his Texas program logged its 100,000th sortie.
Texas
News, deep dives, and analysis — every Texas story, newest first.
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Texas drone news covers border and cartel security concerns, the state’s outsized role in commercial drone delivery, and police and industry activity, tracked apart from the general United States desk given how much drone news concentrates here.
Cartel drone activity has made counter-drone authority a real policy fight: Texas wants counter-drone power, but only 61 US officers nationwide are currently certified to use it, a gap between what the state wants and what federal certification currently allows. Detection technology is advancing separately: AT&T is turning its 5G towers into drone radar using existing network infrastructure rather than dedicated counter-drone hardware.
Texas is also one of the most active states for commercial drone delivery. Zipline’s Walmart drone parachuted a package into Greenville, Texas, landing feet from a parked truck, part of a broader Walmart delivery network expansion across the state.
Industrial investment is following. Saronic is planning a $3 billion Texas shipyard for drone ships, and League City police plan to fly BRINC 911 drones by December. Every Texas drone story is in the feed below.
Key facts
- What this covers
- Drone news across Texas: cartel and border security concerns, commercial delivery expansion, and police and industry activity
- The security gap
- Texas wants counter-drone authority for cartel activity, but only 61 US officers nationwide are currently certified to use it
- Delivery leader
- Texas is one of the most active states for commercial drone delivery, with both Walmart and Zipline expanding service there
Start here
Last updated September 1, 2026 — the feed below updates with every new story.
Counter-Drone
Pentagon Downs 3 Cartel Drones With Laser, Won't Say Whose Airspace
The Army's AMP-HEL laser destroyed three cartel drones at the Texas border, but USNORTHCOM won't say whether the shots crossed into Mexican airspace.
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.
Counter-Drone
AT&T Turns Its 5G Towers Into A Drone Radar
AT&T and Ericsson used three commercial 5G cell sites near AT&T Stadium to detect and track drones without radar or new hardware.
FAA
FBI Drone Crackdown Snares Houston Church Videographer
A two-minute DJI Mavic 3 flight to film a Houston church has become a federal case carrying up to a year in prison.
Zipline
Zipline Walmart Drone Parachutes Into Greenville, Texas Street, Landing Feet From A Parked Truck
A Zipline delivery drone flying for Walmart deployed its emergency parachute over a Greenville, Texas neighborhood on Sunday, July 26, and drifted down onto a residential street near Roy Warren Parkway and Joe Ramsey Boulevard, coming to rest about three feet from a parked pickup truck. Nobody was hurt, and a Walmart employee showed up quickly…
Department of Defense
Saronic Plans $3 Billion Texas Shipyard For Drone Ships
Saronic says it will spend $3 billion to build Port Alpha in Brownsville, a Texas shipyard for autonomous and crewed vessels that could reshape the industrial scale of maritime drone production.
DFR
League City Police To Fly BRINC 911 Drones By December
League City Police Department plans to launch a Drone as First Responder program by December after city council approved a Motorola Solutions pilot agreement built around BRINC aircraft, with the first year free and a six-year contract value of up to $1,759,980 if the city keeps the program.
Frequently asked questions
Why is counter-drone capability such a live issue in Texas specifically?
Cartel drone activity along the border has made counter-drone authority a priority for Texas law enforcement, but the state is running into a national bottleneck: Texas wants that power, and only 61 US officers are currently certified to legally operate counter-drone equipment.
How active is drone delivery in Texas?
Very. Zipline's Walmart delivery service parachuted a package into Greenville, Texas, landing feet from a parked truck, and the state hosts some of the most visible real-world delivery testing anywhere in the country, alongside broader Walmart drone network expansion.
What other kinds of drone stories come out of Texas beyond cartels and delivery?
Industrial and defense investment shows up too. Saronic is planning a $3 billion Texas shipyard for drone ships, and League City police plan to fly BRINC 911 drones by December, both signs of Texas drone activity extending well past border security.
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