US Government

Washington and the drone industry: legislation, procurement, security reviews, and agency policy beyond the FAA.

1,428

Articles

141

Beats covered

Reporters on beat

Oct 6

Last updated

Red Cat Black Widow small drone flying above a dry field

Air Force

Red Cat Lands $2.49M Air Force Test Against Its Own Teal 2

Red Cat's Teal Drones won a $2.49 million Air Force order to evaluate Black Widow as a potential successor to the Security Forces' current Teal 2 fleet.

Rafael SuárezJul 31

Overhead drone view of two swimmers in green ocean water, one reaching for a yellow inflated Restube flotation device

Drones for Good

Ocean County's DJI M300 Dropped a Rescue Tube Into a Rip Current, and the FCC Wants That Drone Class Off the Shelf

An Ocean County Sheriff's Office pilot dropped a Restube beside two swimmers caught in a Surf City rip current. The aircraft was a DJI M300 RTK, and a July 21 FCC notice proposes cutting off that class of drone.

Haye KestelooJul 31

DJI Mavic 3 like the drone flown by a Houston church videographer

FAA

FBI Drone Crackdown Snares Houston Church Videographer

A two-minute DJI Mavic 3 flight to film a Houston church has become a federal case carrying up to a year in prison.

Rafael SuárezJul 31

Data Privacy

AUVSI Is Selling FAA Drone Registration Data The FAA Itself Stopped Publishing

AUVSI sells a drone registration database for up to $8,500, but the FAA's public registration file stopped in 2023 and federal rules limit bulk lookups.

Haye KestelooJul 31

Michael Perry on stage at the launch of the DJI Mavic Air in 2018

DJI

Ex-DJI Executive Warns The FCC Drone Ban Buys American Makers Time, Nothing More

Michael Perry ran DJI's U.S. business for four years. Now building American robots, he says the FCC drone ban buys time and regulation is no moat.

Haye KestelooJul 30

Close-up of the white and red DoorDash delivery drone body

Part 135

DoorDash Just Became An Airline, And The Video Shows A Bigger Drone Than It Will Admit

DoorDash earned FAA Part 135 certification and launched DoorDash Air. The company says aircraft details come later, but its own video already shows the airframe and the propulsion testing.

Haye KestelooJul 29

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaking during an interview at Mariinsky Palace in Kyiv

Department of Defense

Zelenskyy Says Ukraine Will Build A “Great Factory” In The U.S. The First One Already Has An Ohio Address

Zelenskyy told Laura Loomer that U.S.-Ukraine drone cooperation will include a factory on American soil, days before he meets Trump. F-Drones already broke ground in Ohio, and the export deal behind the announcement still rests on anonymous sources.

Haye KestelooJul 25

Rendering of Saronic autonomous vessels turning at sea near Port Alpha shipyard coverage

Department of Defense

Saronic Plans $3 Billion Texas Shipyard For Drone Ships

Saronic says it will spend $3 billion to build Port Alpha in Brownsville, a Texas shipyard for autonomous and crewed vessels that could reshape the industrial scale of maritime drone production.

Rafael SuárezJul 25

US Government

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