The full firehose — every story on DroneXL, newest first. Breaking news, deep dives, reviews, and the deals ticker archive.
Leander, Texas, is putting two Skydio drones on actual 911 calls for two weeks to decide whether the city needs a permanent Drone as First Responder program, as CBS Austin reported. The trial runs May 4-15 and deploys the aircraft to real incidents, not simulations. A Fast-Growing City With a Response Problem Leander isn’t a…
The U.S. Army has awarded Northrop Grumman a Phase II contract to advance its Improved Threat Detection System, as reported on a press release. The award, following a competitive Phase I that included Lockheed Martin, puts Northrop’s ATHENA sensor on track to replace the aging warning systems currently protecting Army aviation. Why the Army Needs…
Olathe pulled its drone ordinance. The FAA pulled the ICE NOTAM. The fight for US drone pilots' rights spans every level of government now.
Purdue University just put its full weight behind a future where one drone pilot coordinates dozens of aircraft at once. The Indiana research powerhouse is expanding a cluster of AI and autonomy programs that could fundamentally reshape how drones operate at scale. Building the Brain for Autonomous Flight The centerpiece of Purdue’s effort is AIDA3,…
The FAA's long-awaited Section 2209 NPRM proposes a new 14 CFR Part 74 framework with two designation tiers for restricting drones over fixed-site facilities.
The point was not to have drone operators train drone operators. It was to force combined arms units to work with aerial intelligence in real time
The U.S. Coast Guard Great Lakes District is putting autonomous sail drones on the water starting this month. Running from May through October 2026, these uncrewed surface vehicles will patrol all five Great Lakes as part of a contract focused on maritime domain awareness, as reported by MLive. The mission: monitor vessel traffic, gather weather…
St. Charles County, Missouri just passed the ordinance it needed to get drones over emergency calls. The county council approved a measure allowing the St. Charles County Police Department to establish memorandums of understanding with schools, municipal facilities, and other local partners willing to host drone docking stations, as reported by Spectrum Local News. The…
A group of ninth and tenth graders at a North Las Vegas charter school are spending their electives doing something most drone enthusiasts wish they’d started earlier: flying, crashing, troubleshooting, and doing it again. They’re not playing. They have a certification to chase, as Las Vegas Sun reported. The Class That Started With Code Richard…
A Chinese research team has flown what it calls the world’s first fixed-wing drone built largely from bamboo. The tilt-rotor UAV took off from a field in Tianjin, climbed, transitioned to forward flight, and came back down on its own rotors, as reported by China Daily. More than a quarter of its airframe is made…
Poland is building a national drone armada, and it’s asking Ukraine to design it. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the joint program on April 27 in Rzeszów, standing alongside Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko at a security conference held roughly 50 miles from the Ukrainian border, as Antikor.ua reported. The structure is straightforward: Poland…
The St. Petersburg Police Department has activated a rooftop Drone Hive at its headquarters — three Skydio X10 drones docked and ready to launch within seconds of a priority call. Chief Anthony Holloway announced the expansion this week, and the numbers behind it are already making a case for what comes next, as reported by…
U.S. Army soldiers assigned to 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment flew DJI Mavic 3 drones for reconnaissance during a live-fire exercise in Selija, Latvia on April 29, 2026 as reported by DVIDS Hub. The training integrated both offensive drone operations and counter-drone jamming in the same exercise, running the full offense-defense loop that defines modern…
Wisk Aero flew its second Gen 6 autonomous air taxi on May 4 in Hollister, CA, putting two Boeing-backed certification aircraft into simultaneous flight test.
FAA designates every FIFA World Cup 2026 stadium a No Drone Zone with $100,000 fines and FBI seizure powers. What the messaging push really signals.
The HoverAir X1 Pro Max is kind of a ridiculously good little drone, especially if you want a super easy way to just capture great shots of yourself hiking, biking, or maybe walking along a not-so-tropical beach. You can just throw this drone in the air and capture some great shots. But if you really…
German filmmaker Philip Carneiro shoots an entire cinematic cycling video on the DJI Osmo Action 6, locking 1/200 shutter, f/2.6, and D-Log M color.
DJI gathered a group of creators somewhere in mainland China for a quiet, controlled, hands-on preview of the Osmo Pocket 4 Pro. The idea, presumably, was a confidential warm-up session — a chance for influencers to get comfortable with the hardware before the official announcement. The photos from that meeting are now on the internet.…
Good day, folks. Shawn here from Air Photography. In today’s video, we’re taking a look at the DJI simulator that’s built right into the DJI Fly app. The reason I’m making this video is that the other day I got an email from a viewer asking if I could recommend a good simulator. They had…
This is the Insta360 Luna, and it’s been co-engineered with Leica. I think this might be one of the most exciting product releases of 2026, and I want to talk about why. But first, you need to know a couple of things. One, this isn’t my Luna. It was sent to my friend Jevon Dovi,…
Tom BetGeorge has tried everything. He updated his pin on Google Maps. He put up a sign on the street. He explained the driveway situation to anyone who would listen. Nothing worked. So last week, the Linden, California homeowner did what any reasonable person would do: he launched a choreographed swarm of drones and spelled…
Houston's PD has created a new unit designed to bridge the gap between street patrol and SWAT — and it's flying DJI Matrice 4 Series drone
The Doral Police Department used last week’s return of the PGA Tour to Trump National Doral to debut its new drone unit under real operational pressure, as Local 10 reported. Two Parrot ANAFI UKR GOV drones took to the skies over the Cadillac Championship as officers tested real-time aerial surveillance in front of tens of…
Witness account of Joby Aviation's final NYC demo flight at Blade Lounge East, with an exclusive interview with Blade CEO Rob Wiesenthal on charging, autonomy, and 2026 service.
One email with the drone news that matters — DJI, FAA, public safety, and everything in between, straight from the newsroom. No spam, no fluff.
