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Drone News: DJI Announces Mini 5 Pro, CA Drone Pilot Sentenced, SAR Drone Shot During Flight
Welcome to your weekly UAS news update. This week, we cover three important stories: DJI’s expected announcement of the Mini 5 Pro, the sentencing of a drone pilot in California for colliding with a firefighting aircraft, and a search and…
Drone Pilot Sentenced for Crashing UAV Into Firefighting Aircraft in California
A Culver City man has been sentenced for flying a drone that collided with a firefighting aircraft battling the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles, causing significant damage and temporarily grounding the critical water-dropping plane, according to NBC LA. Peter Tripp…
Bands Boycott Spotify Over CEO’s Investment in Military Helsing Drones
In June 2025, a significant controversy emerged in the music industry when several prominent bands announced their decision to remove their music from Spotify, the world’s leading music streaming platform. The catalyst for this boycott is Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s…
Drone Fiasco in Kerr County: When Hobbyists Ground Heroes
Dear Drone pilots: Kerr County, Texas, is dealing with enough chaos. Picture this: a rescue helicopter, buzzing through the sky like a caffeinated hummingbird, is out there saving lives after catastrophic flooding turned the Guadalupe River into a raging beast.…
LAPD Expands Drone Use for Routine Emergency Calls in Pilot Program
On June 25, 2025, the Los Angeles Police Commission approved a new policy allowing the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to deploy drones for routine emergency calls, marking a significant shift from their prior use in only high-risk scenarios like…
Sonoma County Faces Lawsuit Over Drone Surveillance: ACLU Calls It a “Runaway Spying Operation”
Today, three Sonoma County residents, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), filed a lawsuit against the county, alleging that its use of drones for code enforcement violates privacy rights. The suit claims that what began as a program…
California Court Orders Chula Vista Police to Release Drone Videos, Setting Precedent for Transparency
A San Diego judge has mandated the release of 25 Chula Vista Police Department (CVPD) drone videos from March 2021, ending a four-year legal battle led by La Prensa publisher Art Castañares. This landmark ruling, reported by CBS 8, requires…
Chinese National Faces Sentencing After Hacking Drone to Photograph Vandenberg Space Force Base
A 39-year-old Chinese national who illegally flew a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base faces sentencing today in Los Angeles federal court after pleading guilty to violating national defense airspace. This case follows a drone incident we previously reported when…
SkyeBrowse Unveils AI-Powered Updates to Revolutionize Drone Reality Capture
SkyeBrowse, a leading drone reality capture platform, has rolled out three significant updates that leverage artificial intelligence to simplify and enhance 3D modeling, as announced on their official site, skyebrowse.com. These advancements—Pocket AI, Merge Model, and Workspace Images—cater to a…
DJI’s Rise: Frank Wang’s Dream to Drone Empire
What began as a Chinese boy’s dream to simplify flying helicopters in the 1990s spiraled into DJI, a global drone empire that reshaped aerial photography, surveillance, and modern warfare. From a forgotten 2005 customs bust in Japan to the battlefields…
LEDA Challenges AUVSI on Drone Restrictions: Prioritizing Public Safety Over Hasty Bans
The Law Enforcement Drone Association (LEDA) has issued a strong rebuttal to the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) following an opinion piece by AUVSI President and CEO Michael Robbins, published on DroneLife on February 24, 2025. In a…
A Farewell to Romeo Durscher: A Drone Visionary Who Soared for Good
On March 3, 2025, the drone industry lost a giant. Romeo Durscher, a Swiss-born pioneer who helped transform drones into life-saving tools for public safety and humanitarian good, passed away after a months-long battle with cancer. It is hard to…