Industry

Funding rounds, partnerships, layoffs, and the market math underneath the drone headlines.

789

Articles

101

Beats covered

Reporters on beat

Sep 27

Last updated

Close-up of a person in a plaid shirt holding an olive-green Ukrainian interceptor drone with yellow fins and twin rear rotors

Ukraine

Eric Schmidt Warns Ukraine's Drone Edge Is Gone. He Sells the Fix

Schmidt's Washington Post op-ed says Ukraine's innovation edge is losing to Russian mass. His byline omits Swift Beat, the drone maker he runs.

Haye KestelooSep 11

Vic Moss speaking into a microphone on stage at Commercial UAV Expo 2026 in Las Vegas

Industry

Vic Moss: The Drone Photo Mistakes Quietly Costing Pilots Clients

Vic Moss, a commercial photographer since 1988, told Commercial UAV Expo which planning, camera, editing and business mistakes cost drone pilots clients.

Haye KestelooSep 10

Four Swarmer engineers in black company shirts assemble quadcopter drones on a crowded workbench in a small blue-walled workshop

Ukraine

Erik Prince's Swarmer Buys Ukraine's Ratel Robotics for Up to $224M

Nasdaq-listed Swarmer, chaired by Blackwater founder Erik Prince, is buying Ukraine's Ratel Robotics for up to $224 million, mostly in stock.

Haye KestelooSep 10

Five attendees in suits stand beside an easel sign reading Welcome to the White House, Drone Dominance Event, in a marble-floored Eisenhower Executive Office Building hallway

US Government

White House Drone List: Three Trump-Family Firms In, Ten Winners Out

The White House list for its Drone Dominance event names 40 entries. All three Trump-family drone firms made it. Ten of eleven Gauntlet I winners did not.

Haye KestelooSep 10

Pilot Institute host speaking at a desk with a drone displayed on a stand in the studio background

DOCKET 26-189

I Scored Every FCC Drone Ban Comment. On the Money Question It Was 1,701 to One.

Pilot Institute coded all 3,824 readable filings in FCC docket 26-189 against the 11 questions the Commission actually asked. Here is what the record says.

Greg ReverdiauSep 9

Infinite Electronics VP Gabriel Guglielmi shows a demo drone built with his company's connectivity hardware at Commercial UAV Expo 2026

Industry

Infinite Electronics: Counter-Drone Demand Now Outpaces Drones

Infinite Electronics VP Gabriel Guglielmi on NDAA parts, anti-jamming antennas, and why counter-drone demand now outpaces drones, from Commercial UAV Expo 2026.

Haye KestelooSep 7

First-person GoPro view of a skier dropping into a deep powder line above a forested valley, with snow-covered peaks on the horizon.

Industry

GoPro CEO Promises 'More Cameras' After Merger, Names None

Woodman's letter says GoPro will keep building cameras after the Starman merger. It names no product, and GoPro's filings say details wait for closing.

Haye KestelooSep 4

A commercial drone pilot in a lime high-visibility vest holds a controller with both hands while a DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual hovers directly above him against a deep blue sky.

DOCKET 26-189

FCC Drone Ban Comments Counted: 3,770 Against, 16 For

Pilot Institute read and coded all 3,824 filings in FCC docket 26-189. 98.6% oppose the military-grade drone ban as written. Sixteen support it.

Haye KestelooSep 3

Industry

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