Autel Added to CMC List, NEW Matrice 4, DroneUp Contract Ended, DOD Expands LAANC

We have four stories for you this week: Autel and others added to the DoD CMC list, DJI releases the Matrice 4, Walmart ends their contract with DroneUp, and the DoD expands LAANC. Let’s get to it!
Autel Added to DoD Chinese Military Complex List
Autel has been added to the DoD Chinese Military Complex (CMC) list. If you’re not familiar with the CMC list, it lists all the companies that are part of the Chinese Military Civil Fusion strategy, as required by the 2021 NDAA. A major problem with this list is that it doesn’t give the public any reason for why a company is selected. Autel’s inclusion means that it is now, in the view of the government, at least a part of the Chinese military. We’ve previously seen this with DJI, who is currently suing the Departamento de Defensa for removal from that list, claiming they lost contracts and business due to their inclusion. We’ll keep you updated if we hear more, but this is an interesting start to 2025.
DJI Releases Matrice 4 Enterprise and Thermal
The Matrice 4 is the continuation of the Mavic 3 Enterprise lineup. DJI decided to name everything Enterprise-related with the Matrice moniker instead of Mavic. Mavic will remain the non-Enterprise model, while Matrice becomes anything Enterprise. We saw this naming convention starting with the Matrice 3D, and it will continue going forward with the Matrice 30, 300, 350, with rumors of a Matrice 400.
Specifications:
The Matrice 4 Enterprise (non-thermal version) features:
- 4/3 CMOS sensor
- Mechanical shutter
- 1/1.3″ medium telephoto lens (3x)
- 1/1.5″ CMOS long telephoto lens (7x)
- Laser rangefinder with effective range of 1,800m (5,900 ft)
The Matrice 4 Thermal version includes:
- Same 3x and 7x sensors
- 1/1.3″ wide-angle lens
- 640×512 thermal imager (upgradable to 1280×1024)
- Near IR Aux light for illumination up to 100m
Both aircraft weigh 1,219g (2.7 lb) with a maximum flight time of 49 minutes. They include integrated RTK modules, AI functions for object identification, and an additional payload capacity of 200g. These drones were designed specifically for Búsqueda y salvamento, including map visualization of search areas and cruise control for pilot multitasking.
Pricing: Enterprise version is $4,799, and the thermal version is $7,299, which is comparable to previous models.
Walmart Ends DroneUp Contract
Walmart has ended its contract with DroneUp and has also exited as an investor in the company. It isn’t clear if anyone has taken their place to continue providing funding. DroneUp confirmed they are not shutting down operations and will continue working on other projects. This adds to DroneUp’s challenges, as they had a major layoff last year to focus on the Walmart contract, which has now ended.
DoD Expands LAANC
The FAA has added 14 DoD installations across Texas, Californiay Florida to their LAANC system. Previously, these installations required approval through the FAA DroneZone, making authorization more complicated for both Part 107 and recreational operators. LAANC will make the process quicker and easier in these areas.
We will not have a live session on Monday as I will be traveling to Florida for an aviation conference, but we will be back on Friday for another news update and our regular Friday community happy hour. See you there!
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