FPV · US Army
US Army Throws 1,900 Drones at Its Own Paratroopers in Germany
The Saber Junction 26 opposing force fields 1,900 drones and new jammers against the 173rd Airborne, a week after the Army killed its drone battalion.
FPV
Freestyle, cinewhoops, racing, and the goggles-on world of first-person-view flight.
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Aug 27
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FPV is the other way to fly a drone: through goggles, from the aircraft’s own camera, for speed and acrobatics rather than framing and hovering. It is the most skill-rewarding corner of the hobby, and right now it is also the most consequential — the same airframes hobbyists race are being built as defense hardware by the hundred thousand.
On the hobby side, the ready-to-fly path runs through DJI’s ducted Avata line — our Avata 360 review covers DJI’s first 360° FPV attempt, and the Antigravity A1 comparison covers its first real challenger. The custom-build world keeps pushing what the hardware can do. Choose your goggles carefully — compatibility is where most FPV money gets wasted.
FPV is also where pilots most often collide with the rules. GoPro itself flew 8K over Niagara Falls and left the permit out of the description — restricted airspace does not care how good the footage is. The FAA desk tracks the enforcement side.
And FPV is the center of the defense story: loitering munitions are FPV drones with a warhead, Ukraine rewrote modern war with them, and US manufacturers are now scaling to match. Every FPV story we publish lands in the feed below.
Key facts
- What FPV is
- First-person view — flying through goggles from the drone's own camera, acro and speed rather than hovering and framing
- The ready-to-fly path
- DJI's ducted Avata line is the strongest commercial route in; the Neo flown with goggles is the cheapest taste of it
- The other FPV story
- The same airframes are now defense hardware — the US Army is betting on a million drones
Start here
- GoPro Flies 8K Over Niagara Falls and Leaves the Permit Out of the Description — August 10, 2026
- DJI Avata 360 Review: DJI's First Try at 360° FPV — July 19, 2026
- Antigravity A1 vs. DJI Avata 360: The One Feature That Changes Everything — June 17, 2026
Last updated August 27, 2026 — the feed below updates with every new story.
FPV
GoPro's 197-Gram 8K Cinema Camera Takes MFT Lenses For $699.99, Manual Focus Only
GoPro's MISSION 1 PRO ILS is a 197-gram 8K cinema camera with a Micro Four Thirds mount at $699.99, no autofocus, and a real FPV cinelifter angle.
FPV
1S Lithium-Ion FPV Build Flies 34 Minutes And 3 Miles On A Single Cell
A YouTube builder's custom 3-inch quad pairs one 21700 cell with a DJI O4 Air Unit for 34-minute flights and a 5 km lake crossing, plus the DJI part US builders can't get.
DEFENSE FUNDING
Neros Raises $250M At $2.5B As The Army Bets On A Million Drones
Neros closed a $250 million Series C at a $2.5 billion valuation. It builds 1,200 drones a week and has promised a million a year by 2028.
FPV
GoPro Flies 8K Over Niagara Falls and Leaves the Permit Out of the Description
GoPro's new Niagara Falls reel was shot on a MISSION 1 PRO strapped to FPV Evan's drone. The airspace is restricted on both sides of the border.
Human Safari
Russian Drone Hunts Kherson Vegetable Seller In Video Zelensky Says The World Must See
A Russian FPV drone chased 52-year-old vegetable seller Yurii around his van in Kherson, then detonated. The UN called this campaign a crime against humanity in 2025.
DJI Avata 2
DJI Avata 2 Guides Escaped Angus Bull Out of I-40 Ravine
A DJI Avata 2 helped Foothills Aerial Services guide an escaped Angus bull out of a kudzu-covered ravine near Interstate 40 in Iredell County, North Carolina.
FPV
Formula 1 Fans Are Split On FPV Drone Shots, And They Accidentally Wrote The Fix
Formula 1 fans are not sold on FPV drone footage, and the most detailed public referendum on it is happening on Reddit. After the Austrian Grand Prix put drone shots at the center of a race broadcast, a thread on r/formula1 filled with responses that split between viewers who called the footage the first time they ever felt the cars' speed and viewers who said it made them physically nauseous…
Frequently asked questions
What is the best FPV drone for a beginner?
Ready-to-fly, the DJI Avata line: ducted, crash-tolerant, and flyable indoors without carnage. If you want to find out whether FPV is your thing before spending real money, a DJI Neo flown with goggles is the cheapest honest taste.
Do I need a license to fly FPV in the US?
The same rules as any drone: TRUST for recreational flight, Part 107 for anything commercial — plus a spotter requirement in practice, because goggles mean you are not keeping visual line of sight yourself.
Custom build or ready-to-fly?
Ready-to-fly gets you flying this weekend. A custom build teaches you the machine and opens genuine performance — recent hobby builds have flown 34 minutes on a single lithium-ion cell — but it is a hobby of soldering as much as flying.
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