Skydio’s flagship enterprise drone: the X10, the militarized X10D, and the DFR programs built on them.
The Skydio X10 is the drone most American public safety agencies buy when they cannot or will not buy DJI, and the aircraft carrying the largest small-drone order in US Army history. Launched in September 2023, and covered hands-on at that launch, it is rated at 40 minutes of flight and 35 of hover under lab conditions, deploys from a backpack in under 40 seconds, carries modular payloads including a FLIR Boson+ thermal sensor, and runs $16,000 to $25,000 a unit in public safety deployments. Our full X10 guide covers the spec sheet, the VT300-Z and VT300-L payloads, and what the X10D actually changes.
Procurement is where the X10’s position was won. The militarized X10D cleared Blue UAS in 2024, and in July 2026 the X10, the Dock for X10 and the R10 joined it, making Skydio the first manufacturer to put its complete active lineup on the Pentagon’s roster. That matters less as a certificate than as a key to federal grant money, which is how most agencies pay for these programs. A month earlier the US Army ordered more than 2,500 X10Ds for over $52 million, the largest single-vendor small-drone purchase in its history.
What the aircraft does day to day is the rest of this archive, and the results arrive quickly. Spokane logged 400 flights in three weeks. Port St. Lucie saved a life on day one. An X10 found a lost man at 3 a.m. in Florida on thermal, and another helped rescue three people from the Kishwaukee River. We cover the friction too, because buying an X10 is a political act in some cities: Minneapolis deadlocked 6-6 and killed a free Skydio trial over the company’s ICE and Israel ties, and Conroe funded its program with asset forfeiture money. The feed below carries every Skydio X10 story as we publish it.
Last updated August 17, 2026 — the feed below updates with every new story.
Santa Ana PD's Eagle 1 drone found a stolen work truck minutes after patrol lost it, watched two suspects load stolen tools, and guided officers straight to them — the first felony arrests of the $682,900 DFR program a divided council approved 4-3 in February.
Spokane police say four Skydio X10 drones flew about 400 missions in three weeks, including a pursuit where the aircraft tracked suspects overhead after patrol cars backed off.
North Charleston police demonstrated a Skydio X10 Drone as First Responder program they want to launch by July 2027, but funding still has to clear a December budget vote.
The Minneapolis City Council deadlocked 6-6, killing a free 75-day Skydio Drone as First Responder trial after members cited the company’s ties to ICE and the Israeli military, despite neighboring cities expanding similar programs.
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…
Chief Jon Buckholtz announced the rollout at a press conference, confirming that the Conroe City Council authorized the purchase of two Skydio X10 drones and two docking stations in December 2025 using asset forfeiture funds. "We purchased this with money that was seized from criminals, in order to fight criminals," Buckholtz said.
Cherry Valley Police Department in Illinois used a Skydio X10 with thermal imaging, a spotlight, and a speaker payload to locate and guide three stranded people out of the Kishwaukee River on the night of June 25, 2026. All three were unhurt when the Cherry Valley Fire Protection District took them to safety. The Winnebago…
Arvada Police Department in Colorado used its new Skydio X10 Drone First Responder program on June 17, 2026 to track and arrest a shoplifting suspect who fled on foot from a Target store, the agency confirmed in a statement. The drone was already airborne when the call came in. A loss prevention officer at the…
We have reported $16,000 to $25,000 per unit in public safety deployments, depending on payload and software. Adam Bry has put a standalone X10 without cloud software at about $15,000. The Army's March 2026 order of more than 2,500 X10Ds for over $52 million implies roughly $17,000 to $21,000 per unit depending on the final count.
Skydio rates it at 40 minutes of flight time and 35 minutes of hover under ideal lab conditions, which is the number to treat as a ceiling rather than a plan. Real DFR programs fly far shorter sorties because the aircraft launches, gets eyes on a scene, and returns.
The X10D is the defense variant, built to keep flying in GPS-denied and jammed environments. It cleared Blue UAS in 2024, two years before the rest of the lineup, and it is the aircraft behind the Army's Short Range Reconnaissance Tranche 2 selection and the March 2026 bulk order.
Yes. The X10, the Dock for X10 and the R10 indoor drone were added to the Pentagon's Blue UAS Cleared List in July 2026, joining the X10D from 2024. That made Skydio the first manufacturer to have its complete active lineup on the roster, which matters most to agencies buying with federal grant dollars.
Hundreds, and the pattern in our coverage is that programs produce results fast. Spokane logged 400 flights in three weeks. Port St. Lucie saved a life on day one. An X10 found a lost man at 3 a.m. in Florida on thermal, and another helped rescue three people from the Kishwaukee River in Illinois. Not every program survives politics: Minneapolis killed a free trial on a 6-6 council vote.
Modular payloads, with the FLIR Boson+ thermal sensor the one that shows up most in the rescue stories we cover. The aircraft is IP55 rated for weather, deploys from a backpack in under 40 seconds, and can be specified with 5G for beyond-line-of-sight operations.
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