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Weekly UAS News: Oregon Exposes FCC Ban Costs, DJI’s 96% Market Share, Export Rule Changes, Illegal Drone Deer Scouting, and a 925-Foot Tower Rescue
Welcome to your weekly UAS news update. We have five stories for you this week. First up, Oregon exposes the real cost of the FCC ban. Second, a very interesting FAA study that reveals drone market shares. Third, the Commerce…
FAA research: DJI accounts for 96% of detected US drone platforms. The FCC banned DJI in December.
New FAA-funded research puts a hard number on what every drone pilot already knows: DJI is the US drone market. Not most of it. Nearly all of it. The ASSURE A83 2025 Annual Report, produced by researchers at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical…
Oregon Exposes the Real Cost of the DJI Ban: 25 States Report 467 Restricted Drones and Up to $2 Billion in National Exposure
The Oregon Department of Aviation (ODAV) just did something no federal agency has bothered to do: it counted the damage. A new white paper compiled by ODAV through the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO) surveyed 25 state transportation…
Indiana DNR Brings First Prosecution for Illegal Drone Deer Scouting, and the Forensic Evidence Is Damning
A drone’s GPS log doesn’t lie. When Indiana Conservation Officers seized the UAV at the center of this case and ran a forensic analysis, they didn’t find a few accidental photos of a whitetail. They found hundreds of images and…
Paladin launches NDAA-compliant Knighthawk 2.0 at World Defense Show, signaling a strategic pivot from DJI dependence
Paladin Drones, the Houston-based Drone as First Responder company that built much of its business on modified DJI hardware, just revealed the Knighthawk 2.0 at the World Defense Show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The new drone is NDAA-compliant, built in…
Michigan’s 15-Bill SHIELD Drone Package Collides With Federal Law It Claims to Respect
Michigan legislators just introduced the most ambitious state drone regulation package in the country. It also has the most obvious federal preemption problems of any state drone package in the country. The 15-bill SHIELD legislation, sponsored by state Rep. William…
Sterling Heights Brings Axon-Skydio DFR Program to Detroit Metro, Funded Entirely by Federal Forfeiture
The photo shows a Skydio drone hovering over a dock outside the Sterling Heights Police Department. It’s a familiar sight in 2026, but not in Michigan, where automated drone response has been slow to take hold despite the state’s heavy…
Milwaukee Police Launch Drone First Responders
When every second counts, Milwaukee police are now letting a drone beat the squad car to the scene as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. The Milwaukee Police Department has officially launched its Drone as First Responder program, and yes, the…
Mission Viejo’s Third Thermal Drone Dog Rescue Proves This Tech Isn’t a Gimmick
When strong winds forced Mission Viejo Animal Services to ground their drone last Friday, a 1-year-old Australian Shepherd named Lana was still somewhere in the steep canyons between Dove Canyon and Coto de Caza. The officers knew the technology could…
Police Test Autonomous DFR Drones in Grand Chute
Autonomous drones are no longer a future promise for law enforcement. In Grand Chute, Wisconsin, police are already letting software and sensors arrive before squad cars. Since April 2025, the Grand Chute Police Department has been running a pilot drone…
Drone Pilot Uses Thermal Tech to Find Lost Wisconsin Pets
Losing a pet rarely feels dramatic at first. A gate left open. A collar that slips. Then minutes turn into hours, hours into a quiet panic. In Wisconsin, one drone pilot decided that waiting was not an option, as KIMT3…
Police Drone Injures Child in Kent Crash, Wisconsin Deputies Save Missing Man with Thermal Drone
Welcome to your weekly US news update from Pilot Institute. We have three important stories this week that show both the risks and benefits of drone operations. A police drone crashed and injured a child. A thermal drone helped rescue…