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Police, fire, and search-and-rescue teams putting drones to work when minutes matter.

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FCC Bans All Foreign Drones: Here's What They Aren't Telling You
Amazon

FCC Bans All Foreign Drones: Here’s What They Aren’t Telling You

The day we’ve all been dreading is finally here, but it came with a pretty big unexpected surprise that I don’t think anybody was expecting. Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, recently announced that the FCC has added foreign-produced drones and drone components to the covered entity list. We all knew it was…

FCC Says DJI Can Keep Importing Air 3S, But Will Customs Let Them Through?
DJI

FCC Says DJI Can Keep Importing Air 3S, But Will Customs Let Them Through?

I’ve been going through the FCC’s official order and their accompanying Fact Sheet on foreign drones. The FCC created a deliberate gap in their ban that allows existing products to stay on shelves. But the gap between regulatory permission and practical enforcement at the border could cause real problems. Here’s what you need to know. What the…

DJI Mini 4 Pro shown from the top with the battery partly ejected.
Skydio

FCC Banned Foreign Drone Batteries, But China Makes 99% of Them

Yesterday, I wrote about the FCC’s sweeping ban on all foreign-made drones and critical components. Today, the New York Times published an article that exposes a fundamental problem with the administration’s “American drone dominance” strategy: the batteries don’t exist. The FCC’s National Security Determination explicitly lists “batteries and battery management systems” as covered critical compon

DJI Responds to Court Ruling, Denies Military Ties Despite Pentagon Designation - Trump Administration Targets Chinese Drone Imports in September Crackdown
DJI

FCC Bans All Foreign And DJI Drones: America Just Made Itself Weaker, Not Safer

We’ve been tracking the December 23 deadline for months, expecting DJI to land on the FCC’s Covered List through bureaucratic default. What the FCC actually did today goes far beyond anything we predicted. They didn’t just ban DJI. They banned all foreign-made drones and critical components. Every single one. And they did it in the…

Border Patrol Bets on Tiny Drones for Big Sky Surveillance
Search & Rescue

Border Patrol Bets on Tiny Drones for Big Sky Surveillance

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is going small, very small, when it comes to drones. Instead of relying only on large, expensive aircraft, CBP is now deploying palm sized and backpack friendly drones to watch massive stretches of border terrain. Think less Predator drone, more “DJI Mini with a government ID badge.” These small unmanned…

Paladin Drones Lawsuit: Ex-VP Accused of Sabotaging $9M Funding Round
Paladin Drones

Paladin Drones Says Former VP Tried to ‘Plunder’ Company After Failed Power Grab

We’ve been tracking Paladin Drones’ rapid expansion across police and fire departments for over a year, but court documents filed in late October allege explosive internal turmoil at the Y Combinator-backed emergency response drone company, including accusations of corporate sabotage, an attempted leadership coup, and shouting matches between executives. According to Law360, Houston-based Paladin

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