DEALS

First Responders

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

1,549
Articles
113
Beats covered
10
Reporters on beat
Oct 6
Last updated
Drone Finds Missing Man After 29 Hours in Freezing Cold
DJI

Drone Finds Missing Man After 29 Hours in Freezing Cold

A routine afternoon walk in LaGrange, Kentucky turned into a 29 hour fight for survival, and a drone roughly the size of a pizza box ended up being the difference between a recovery and a rescue. On December 20, Oldham County search and rescue teams were alerted that a local man had gone missing. He…

FPV Pilot Joshua Bardwell: FCC Component Ban May Not Be as Bad as It Sounds
Police

FPV Pilot Joshua Bardwell: FCC Component Ban May Not Be as Bad as It Sounds

While the drone world panics over the FCC’s sweeping ban on foreign drones and components, FPV expert Joshua Bardwell is urging pilots to take a breath. His analysis raises a critical question that most coverage has missed: Does the FCC even have jurisdiction over half the components it listed? In a video published December 23, Bardwell…

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…

— The DroneXL Briefing · Free

The drone industry moves fast. Stay ahead of it.

One email with the drone news that matters — DJI, FAA, public safety, and everything in between, straight from the newsroom. No spam, no fluff.

8,400+
Articles published
340+
Beats & desks
2020
Covering drones since
100%
Independent