Washington and the drone industry: legislation, procurement, security reviews, and agency policy beyond the FAA.
Welcome to your weekly UAS news update. We have four stories for you this week, and they’re quite interesting. First up, the FAA abruptly shut down the airspace over El Paso, Texas. A former DJI VP has been detained in China. A new bill gives Kansas City police the authority to take down drones. And…
California based startup Swarm Aero has opened an 80,000 square foot Advanced Manufacturing Center at Drake Field in Fayetteville, Arkansas
In a world where minutes can redraw the map of a community, drones are no longer weekend gadgets or delivery pipe dreams. They are becoming airborne lifelines. On March 2, the University of Mississippi will host its second Unmanned Aircraft System Symposium, organized by the Center for Air and Space Law. The event, titled “Unleashing…
Israeli drone maker XTEND is heading to the public markets through a $1.5 billion reverse merger with Florida based JFB Construction Holdings, a Nasdaq listed contractor whose core business until now has had little to do with defense robotics, as Bloomberg reports. The combined company will rebrand as XTEND AI Robotics and trade under the…
Mexican drug cartels are no longer just trafficking narcotics across borders. They are building a low cost air force, as Small Wars Journal reports. A new report from the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center, based at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, documents 221 weaponized drone incidents in Mexico between 2021 and 2025.…
SpaceX is reportedly competing in a secret Pentagon challenge to build voice controlled, autonomous drone swarming technology, as Reuters reports. On paper, it reads like the next chapter in military innovation. In context, it also reads like a sharp philosophical U turn. According to Bloomberg News, SpaceX and its AI subsidiary xAI are among a…
More than $100 million in federal funding is headed to Grand Forks, North Dakota, reinforcing the region’s growing role as a national hub for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), space, and defense technology, as the Grand Forks Herald reports. Speaking at the HIVE innovation center, U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) detailed a sweeping investment package that…
A company by the name of PowerLight Technologies, out of Kent, Washington, may have found the secret to the age-old war between UAS and batteries: laser-powered drones. No, I’m not kidding. PowerLight claims to have created a way to power long-endurance fixed-wing drones by using ground-based lasers that can charge them up to (nearly) one…
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