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The full firehose — every story on DroneXL, newest first. Breaking news, deep dives, reviews, and the deals ticker archive.

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289

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Oct 27

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A Forest Service drone sits on a red landing pad at night as a wildfire burns along a forested ridgeline in the background

Oregon

Oregon Warns Drone Pilots: One Flight Can Ground Every Fire Aircraft

Oregon's aviation and emergency agencies warn one unauthorized drone can ground every firefighting aircraft, as US drone incursions hit 67 in 2026.

Haye KestelooAug 23

Hundreds of illuminated drones form glowing purple clusters in the night sky above the treeline of Central Park in New York, with rows of lit launch pads and spectators in the foreground.

FCC BAN

FCC Labels Drone Light Shows Military-Grade While US Operators Fly Korean And Chinese Fleets

The FCC's swarm rule names drone light shows as military-grade. The US industry flies Korean and Chinese hardware. Comments close September 2.

Haye KestelooAug 22

Lockheed Martin

Saildrone Fires First Missiles From Its Robot Ship at US Navy's RIMPAC

Saildrone and Lockheed Martin fired two JAGM missiles from a Surveyor USV at RIMPAC 2026, the first missile launch from the company's uncrewed ships.

Haye KestelooAug 22

DJI Mini 5 Pro hovering in front of blooming goldenrod with its LiDAR sensors forward

Deal

DJI Mini 5 Pro Amazon Bundle Packs Over $100 In Free Gear For $899

An Amazon bundle pairs the DJI Mini 5 Pro with $100+ in accessories for $899. What's in it, what reviewers say, and the 250-gram registration catch.

Haye KestelooAug 22

The Amazon Prime Air MK30 delivery drone on display at XPONENTIAL Europe in Düsseldorf, Germany

Drone Delivery

Amazon's Pool Drop Shows Why Zipline Is Winning Drone Delivery

An Amazon MK30 dropped a package into a Texas pool. Zipline's tethered droid and parachute designs show why the 83-pound drone keeps missing.

Haye KestelooAug 22

DJI Air 3 drone behind a red prohibition symbol under a pink BANNED? banner

FAA

The FCC's 'Military-Grade' Drone Definition Is Broad Enough to Catch Your DJI Neo 2

The FCC wants to redefine 'military-grade' drones so broadly it could stop sales of thermal, LiDAR, and dock-equipped models already on the market — including the LiDAR sensor in a 151-gram DJI Neo 2. Pilot Institute's Greg Reverdiau breaks down all seven categories and how to file a comment before September 2.

Greg ReverdiauAug 22

HOVERAir Versa self-flying camera drones in white and black, each with a folding propeller cage and a gimbal-mounted camera above the handheld body

Industry

FCC Tells All Certification Labs To Tighten Drone Screening

After an erroneous grant let a Chinese flying camera reach US buyers, the FCC is sending guidance to every certification body it accredits.

Haye KestelooAug 21

Hand holding a DJI Osmo Pocket gimbal camera with a 1-inch sensor lens and magnetic filter attachment, with accessories on a desk behind it

DJI

The DJI Osmo Pocket 4 Accessories I Actually Use: Protection, ND Filters, Mics, Batteries, and Car Rigs

Jake Sloan shares the DJI Osmo Pocket 4 and 4P accessories he actually uses — protective covers, Freewell ND filters, mics, batteries, LUTs, and car rig gear.

Jake SloanAug 21

Insta360

Insta360 X6 In-Depth Review: What's Actually New — and Where It Falls Short

Ray from DC Rainmaker spent six weeks testing the Insta360 X6 underwater, on the water, and on the ground — new 1/1.1-inch sensors, 8K50, 10-bit, InstaFrame 2.0, and the features that don't quite deliver.

Ray DC RainmakerAug 21

DJI Avata 360 drone in flight showing its rotating dual-lens 360 camera module

DJI

DJI Offers $10,000 For Your Best Avata 360 Video While Washington Decides Its US Future

DJI's All For Passion Challenge pays up to $10,000 for Avata 360 sports videos through September 30. The drone's US story makes it complicated.

Haye KestelooAug 21

Thermal drone imagery of five elephants glowing orange and purple against dark bush, each framed by a white AI detection box labeled ELEPHANT #01 through #03

DJI

DJI Names 15 Onboard AI Challenge Winners, From Banana Farms to Bridge Cracks

DJI names 15 winners in its Enterprise Drone Onboard AI Challenge 2026, from a Colombian banana farm crop counter to closed-loop traffic inspection in China.

Haye KestelooAug 21

Pilot Institute host presenting the week 379 drone news update, with on-screen headlines about a DJI win, new drone tariffs and Chinese drone clearance

DJI

DJI Scores Its Biggest Legal Win in Years, New Drone Tariffs Hit 100%, and the HOVERAir Versa Clears the FCC

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update. We have three stories for you. DJI gets a big win. We have a new drone tariff. And then lastly, we have a Chinese drone maker that is somehow getting FCC clearance. So, let's get to it.

Greg ReverdiauAug 21

Close-up of a DJI Mini 5 Pro in flight, its gimbal camera and forward sensors facing the viewer against blurred green trees.

OPERATORS

DJI Ban Hits Home: Drone Pilots Ask Whether Their Businesses Survive

A new Part 107 pilot asked Facebook if the DJI ban killed his drone business before launch. 268 comments show what operators face ahead of September 3.

Haye KestelooAug 20

Shield AI's X-BAT fighter drone standing tail-first on its launch trailer in a jungle clearing

Industry

Navy Puts $50 Million On Shield AI's X-BAT While The Air Force Watches

The Navy and Defense Innovation Unit are investing $50 million in Shield AI's X-BAT, a tail-landing fighter drone that has never flown. The Air Force is deliberately sitting this one out, and the hard part is the landing.

Haye KestelooAug 20

United States Drone Dominance Program seal showing a bald eagle clutching arrows in front of a globe with three quadcopters above it

US Government

White House Summons 40 Drone Companies As Tariff Deadline And Beijing Loom

The first White House Drone Dominance event packed roughly 40 drone makers into the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, two weeks before Section 232 tariffs hit and hours before Beijing demanded their withdrawal.

Haye KestelooAug 20

A U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter hovers low over a forest lake, lowering an orange Bambi Bucket into the water as rotor wash sprays mist across the surface.

Drone Incidents

FBI Task Force Forced Down Hobby Drones Over Spokane Wildfires

An FBI-led counter-drone unit built for the FIFA World Cup detected 41 unauthorized drones over the Spokane wildfires in four days and used electronic countermeasures to force them down. No pilots were arrested; the cases went to the FAA with fines of up to $100,000 each.

Haye KestelooAug 20

AUVSI President and CEO Michael Robbins on stage at XPONENTIAL Detroit in May 2026, weeks after defending the FCC's expanded Covered List.

ADVOCACY

DSPA Presses AUVSI To Back Operators Over Bans After Robbins Exit

DSPA calls on AUVSI to reset after Michael Robbins' exit: back drone operators, demand evidence, and judge drones on risk, not country of origin.

Haye KestelooAug 20

US Army

US Army Kills the Drone Battalion It Created Just Seven Months Ago

The US Army is phasing out the 3rd Battalion, 504th PIR, its only drone assault unit, seven months after creating it to absorb Ukraine's drone war lessons.

Haye KestelooAug 20

Auterion drone swarm software coordinating multiple uncrewed aircraft as a single AI-guided strike formation

Counter-Drone

Northcom Cannot Stop A Homeland Drone Swarm. Its Deputy Commander Said So.

Asked if he could defeat a drone swarm launched inside U.S. borders, Northcom's deputy commander said no. Nine days earlier, five autonomous drones hit a tank in Maryland.

Haye KestelooAug 19

Four German officials stand behind a DLR lectern marking the Drone Security Technology Center at the opening ceremony in Cochstedt

Leipzig Drone Bomb

Germany Opens Counter-Drone Test Center After Leipzig Explosive Drone

Germany opened the DLR Drone Security Technology Center at Cochstedt airport two weeks after an explosives-laden drone struck a Ukrainian An-124 at Leipzig.

Haye KestelooAug 19