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When Massachusetts officials told residents a deer hunt was necessary at Quabbin Park, some locals were not convinced, as reported by the Boston Herald. They questioned the headcount, the math, and possibly the eyesight of whoever was doing the counting. So the state brought in an impartial referee that does not argue on Facebook. A…
From a distance, the scene looked almost relaxed. A large black drone rested on grass. A small fire crackled on stacked pallets. Hanging underneath the drone was a red balloon filled with water, looking less like cutting edge technology and more like something borrowed from a very nervous birthday party. But appearances lie. The drone…
I’ve been tracking Ukraine’s transformation from drone importer to NATO’s leading drone warfare teacher for months. This week brought a development that captures how far the tables have turned: Ukrainian officials traveled to Portugal to evaluate autonomous systems from a company that openly credits Ukraine’s battlefield success for its existence. The irony writes itself. But…
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…
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…
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 has issued its first official response to the FCC’s decision to add foreign-made drones to the Covered List, calling the action “disappointing” and accusing the administration of protectionism rather than legitimate security enforcement. In a statement provided to DroneXL, a DJI spokesperson confirmed that existing DJI products are not affected by yesterday’s FCC action…
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
Mexico’s Cartels utilizing drones pose a huge risk not just for rival cartel members, but for civilians and security forces as well. Drone warfare is no longer something that only happens “over there-” typically referring to the ongoing conflicts in Europe. Since Ukraine and Russia adopted quadcopters, Mexico’s cartel-related drone use has moved well beyond…
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…
To celebrate the Tetris World Championships, Red Bull transformed the Dubai skyline into the largest playable game of Tetris ever created
360 degree propeller guards designed specifically for the DJI Mini 5 Pro, already mounted on a demo unit, plus box shots that suggest this is not
Just when many of us were already mentally powering down for eggnog mode, DJI decided to slide a very shiny package under the tree. A new firmware update for the DJI Osmo Action 6 has landed, and yes, it unlocks 8K video recording at up to 30 frames per second. Two days before Christmas, and…
A frozen marsh, a missing dog, and a ticking snowstorm clock sound like the start of a bad winter story, but in New Jersey it ended with a quiet win for drones, thermal cameras, and one very relieved family. NBC New York bring us this story. Nine Days Lost in the Cold Samira Gross was…
Two senators are pressing major construction contractors about DJI drone use at nuclear facilities and border security sites. The letters follow GSA Inspector General findings that contractors used DJI equipment at sensitive locations. But the real question isn’t whether the drones were secure. It’s whether the contractors had legal authorization to use them at all.…
The DJI Neo 2 drone has been out for about a month now, and I can easily say this has probably become one of my favorite drones. A lot of people consider the Neo series a toy, something not meant for anything serious. I disagree. The original Neo was limited with its video quality, but…
Police just got new counter-drone authority with a bill that President Trump signed into law yesterday. SkyeBrowse released its biggest update of the year.
Texas once flirted with the idea of citizens shooting drones out of the sky. Now the state is operating one of the largest law enforcement drone fleets in the country, irony included at no extra charge. Under Governor Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, the Texas Department of Public Safety has gone from zero drones to…
Oil spills do not wait politely for paperwork, daylight, or perfect weather, they move fast, spread faster, and leave responders racing a very messy clock. To tilt that race in their favor, the National Ocean Service Office of Response and Restoration has teamed up with the U.S. Coast Guard to turn drones from classroom projects…
A quiet FCC filing has revealed a DJI product name that absolutely nobody had on their 2025 bingo card: Osmo FrameTap. The discovery came courtesy of a tweet by drone sleuth @Saracool_drone, who spotted a freshly registered DJI device hiding in plain sight inside the FCC database, dated December 17, 2025. Naturally, this sent me…
DJI's Head of Global Policy Adam Welsh sat down with YouTuber Faruk from iPhonedo to discuss the December 23 DJI ban. Hard questions ...
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…
Losing a pet rarely feels dramatic at first. A gate left open. A collar that slips. Then minutes turn into hours, hours into a quiet panic. In Wisconsin, one drone pilot decided that waiting was not an option, as KIMT3 reports. In Oconomowoc, Sky Guardian Rescue has turned advanced drone technology into a lifeline for…
Hello dear readers. It’s Rafael again, reporting from the front lines of daily drone flying, where batteries are always charging, SD cards are always full, and firmware updates are always waiting like unpaid parking tickets. As you know, I fly almost every single day. Not metaphorically. Literally. If a drone has propellers and DJI’s logo…
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