Oregon

News, deep dives, and analysis — every Oregon story, newest first.

Articles

Beats covered

Reporters on beat

Aug 23

Last updated

A Forest Service drone sits on a red landing pad at night as a wildfire burns along a forested ridgeline in the background

Oregon · Oregon

Oregon Warns Drone Pilots: One Flight Can Ground Every Fire Aircraft

Oregon's aviation and emergency agencies warn one unauthorized drone can ground every firefighting aircraft, as US drone incursions hit 67 in 2026.

Haye KestelooAug 234 min read

Overhead black-and-white view of a DJI Phantom quadcopter surrounded by folding DJI Mavic drones and other multirotors arranged on a white surface

Police

Newberg Police Fly Drones Where K-9s Used To Go

Newberg-Dundee police and Yamhill County deputies have flown drones since 2022 — a 10-aircraft combined DJI fleet that clears buildings ahead of officers and ends foot pursuits with thermal at 400 feet. No ribbon cuttings, no controversy, just standard equipment.

Rafael SuárezAug 6

A Skydio X10 conducts an autonomous power line inspection flight

Funding

USDOT Forecasts $9 Million In Drone Inspection Grants, A Fraction Of What States Say The DJI Ban Cost Them

USDOT forecasts $9M for FY26 Drone Infrastructure Inspection Grants: notice Sept 15, applications due Nov 15, five awards, 50% match. States asked for $50M.

Haye KestelooAug 3

Skydio

Redmond Police Buy Six Skydio Drones on a 5-Year Plan

Redmond, Oregon, is replacing its DJI police drones with six Skydio aircraft, and paying for them the way a city buys a fleet of patrol cars: on a five-year financed contract. The city council approved the $410,762 deal with Axon on June 23. The department calls its old fleet obsolete, but the bigger force behind…

Rafael SuárezJul 3

Amazon

UK Logs 1,672 BVLOS Flights While US Waits on Part 108

The UK Civil Aviation Authority has published its Test and Evaluation Annual Report 2025-2026, and the numbers inside are the kind of evidence American operators have been asking the FAA to produce for years. CAP 3266 documents 1,672 distinct BVLOS flights and over 350 flight hours collected from industry partners between October 2024 and March…

Rafael SuárezJun 18

FLIR Systems

Teledyne FLIR Launches Black Recon Autonomous Drone

Teledyne FLIR Defense pulled the wrap off Black Recon at Eurosatory on June 15, framing it as the first vehicle-mounted micro-drone system that launches, recovers, and recharges itself without the crew ever stepping outside. Three UAVs rotate from a single dock for continuous overwatch, each one weighing under 450 grams (15.9 oz) and flying for…

Rafael SuárezJun 17

Walmart

Walmart and Wing Add Seven Markets, Putting Two Drone Operators on a Collision Course in Memphis

Walmart and its drone partner Wing named seven new metro areas for their delivery network on June 10, and one of those cities should sound familiar to anyone who read DroneXL earlier today. Memphis is on the list. So is Phoenix. The Alphabet-owned operator will push the partnership toward nearly 20 US markets, and the…

Haye KestelooJun 17

Amazon

Amazon Brings Prime Air to Memphis With a Meet-and-Greet, Not a Launch Date

Amazon parked an MK-30 delivery drone inside the Renasant Convention Center on Tuesday and invited Memphis residents to meet it. The company calls the service Prime Air, and the pitch was familiar: packages up to five pounds, delivered in two hours or less, for $4.99 if you hold a Prime membership. What Amazon did not…

Haye KestelooJun 17

Oregon

The drone industry moves fast. Stay ahead of it.