News, deep dives, and analysis — every Virginia story, newest first.
North Richland Hills police are launching a Skydio Drone as First Responder trial this month, putting eyes on accident scenes and active emergencies before the first patrol unit arrives. Two docking stations will sit at a strategic central location in the city, letting pilots launch a drone in as little as 20 seconds. The trial…
Blueflite, the Brighton-based drone manufacturer that has been flying the Munson pilot, is now integrating its aircraft with medical payload bags
DIRT picks up where that training ends. A drone that has crashed, been shot down, been abandoned, or been found near sensitive infrastructure
Right now that's a minimum of ninety minutes door-to-door if traffic cooperates. A drone? Straight line. Twenty minutes, maybe less. No traffic lights.
The Air & Space Forces Association’s Gabriel Chapter in Northern Virginia just handed the Leesburg Civil Air Patrol squadron a concrete investment in its future: two professional-grade unmanned aerial systems and the curriculum to put them to work, as the AFA reported. The donation marks an expansion of how the Leesburg cadet program introduces young…
Fairfax County, Virginia is not testing the waters on Drone as First Responder. The numbers from their first 100 missions make the case better than any press release could. Drones arrived on scene first in 71 of those 100 calls. Average response time: 83 seconds. In a county that sits inside the most restricted airspace…
Oklahoma has a slow-motion wildfire crisis growing one tree at a time. Drones dropping herbicide pellets tree by tree may be the most cost-effective answer anyone has found yet, as reported by KOSU. The Tree That Is Eating Oklahoma Eastern redcedars are winning. By 1950, they had invaded 1.5 million acres of Oklahoma. By 1985…
In Rockbridge, Virginia, first responders have found a new partner that does not drink coffee, does not complain about overtime, and can hover over a cornfield at midnight without blinking. The Rockbridge Regional Public Safety Communications Center has quietly built a drone program that is now reshaping how local agencies handle search and rescue, suspect…
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