The Town of Gilbert, Arizona is quietly building one of the more serious Drone as First Responder programs in the Southwest, with its Police and Fire departments jointly testing autonomous drone deployments to improve emergency response times, as reported by…
A Skydio X10 drone reached a potentially dangerous 911 call in Fairfax County, Virginia, in just 57 seconds, arriving before any patrol officer and fundamentally changing how police handled the situation. The call came in near Fair Oaks Mall, where…
I’ve flown many of “DJI alternatives” over the years, and they all failed the same test: obstacle avoidance. The moment you needed to fly sideways through trees or track a moving subject, those budget options revealed themselves as expensive toys.…
Let’s set the stage properly. This is all based on official statements, demos, and testing info shared by Northrop Grumman, and yes, the tone is serious because the problem is serious. Rogue drones are no longer a future headache. They…
We have been reporting on the DJI ban for over a year, but today we are publishing something different: a comprehensive, documented record of American lives saved by the very drones that will be banned in nine days. DroneXL reader…
Cal Fire’s San Benito Monterey Unit did not plan to become a state leader in drone operations, but a simple act of generosity changed everything, as a local photographer donated two drones back in 2021, and those small aircraft pushed…
Welcome to your weekly UAS news update. We have four stories for you this week. DJI is ending support for certain drones and payloads, and we’re going to talk about which ones. We have a drone that helps rescue a…
The New York Police Department conducted 6,546 drone flights in the first six months of 2025, representing a 3,200% increase since 2022, according to a new report by civil rights watchdog Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.). The explosive growth raises…
Welcome to your weekly US news update from Pilot Institute. We have three important stories this week that show both the risks and benefits of drone operations. A police drone crashed and injured a child. A thermal drone helped rescue…
Every week we see strange drone stories, but Reddit user “SinNovedadx” delivered a masterpiece. He went out for a normal flight with his Mini 5 Pro. Nothing crazy. No heavy wind. No weird GPS issues. Just a calm day at…
Brooklyn Park, Minnesota’s City Council unanimously approved a $4.6 million expansion of its police technology contract to implement a Drone as First Responder program, bringing the department’s total 10-year agreement with Axon Enterprise to $12.4 million. The November 10 vote…
A DJI drone played a key role in saving a small dog fighting for his life in a California canal, proving once again how aerial technology can make a real difference in emergencies. As The Dodo told us, In August,…
