drones

German developer of strategic and military drones Quantum-Systems has inaugurated multipurpose centers in Ukraine to strengthen its support of the nation’s defense against Russia’s seemingly endless invasion.

It will come as no surprise to DroneDJ readers that political efforts have been afoot – and gaining momentum – to blacklist drones made by global leader DJI for the threats they allegedly pose of leaking user data to the spying eyes of officials in China. A new report offers an indication of just how steep – and expensive – that legislative push to sideline those UAVs across the US promises to be.

Israel-based hydrogen-powered UAV developer HevenDrones is keeping a very close eye on work in the UK toward creating a 165-mile “drone superhighway,” which is intended to enable a broadening range and rate of aerial activity and services across a huge swath of the nation. Although it is not yet involved in what are the still preliminary stages of that British project, HevenDrones CEO Bentzion Levinson says he believes the program’s potential for rapidly, radically transforming UAV systems, regulations, operation, and tech – including power sources like hydrogen permitting far longer flights – is enormous, and something he’d be keen to join when the time is right.

Since Russian forces stormed their country last year, Ukraine fighters have continually stunned Moscow with their remarkably innovative and effective use of consumer, enterprise, and military-grade drones in attacking invaders’ positions and compounds. Now sources offer DroneDJ insights on how Ukraine’s planners are working to muscle-up UAVs for increased strikes inside Russia itself – activities that may have been behind explosions above the Kremlin in early May.

Drone enthusiasts who dream of one day piloting their craft using the speed and efficiency of jet engine tech take heart – UK startup Greenjets has released a solution striving to turn that ambition into reality.

Law enforcement officials in Ohio have compiled a sufficiently solid case against three suspects to secure their indictment for having flown drones to provide inmates in multiple prisons around the state with narcotics and other contraband items.

As the current Russian aerial battering of Kyiv and other cities indicates, military officials in Moscow are seeking to stave off a Ukraine counter-offense expected to be unleashed any day now – and for which the nation’s defense forces have trained 10,000 drone pilots.

Finland’s Nokia has released what it calls the first-ever turnkey nested drone solution for public safety and enterprise users boasting CE certification by fulfilling the European Union’s safety requirements.

As their revered political hero famously phrased it, “there you go again.” A pair of Republican legislators has joined the conga line of officials in Washington striking tough positions against China with another bill seeking to broaden US bans on DJI drones – this one with potentially far-reaching consequences.

The drone unit of the Devon and Cornwall Police department has begun using DJI craft to combat dangerous driving in what they call the first use of UAVs for road safety enforcement in England or Wales.

Canadian drone and UAV systems developer Draganfly is continuing its business expansion drive through a new partnership with Australian specialized communications solutions company CODAN Communications.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) say they’ve created an automated system allowing drones to select safe flight trajectories with what trials indicated was a 100% collision-free success rate.

Canadian UAV hardware and software company Draganfly had a busy and productive 2022, and is now building on continued business momentum in the first three months of this year with the announcement it is expanding its drone production capacities to keep pace with surging demand.

The operator of Belgium’s Brussels airport is taking another step in its involvement in and support of UAV and next generation aircraft development by acquiring a 30% stake in DronePort, a project seeking to create a full ecosystem for advanced air mobility activity (AAM).

Leading UAV developers DraganFly, Quantum-Systems, AeroVironment, and Teledyne Flir are among the companies that have provided cutting-edge aerial craft to Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invasion, but Australian firm SYPAQ Systems is distinguishing itself in that supportive effort by providing Kyiv with drones made of cardboard.

A UK drone pilot has been slapped with a hefty fine and a suspended prison sentence for having flown his UAV during a historic airshow event last July, during which it came dangerously close to a rare World War II-era Royal Air Force plane as it passed.

The Magic Kingdom got a little extra special – and weird ­­­– this weekend when visitors at Disneyland spotted a banned drone hovering overhead, until it navigated to one side and promptly crashed in some bushes. Strangest of all: the aerial invader made its appearance above Frontierland, not Tomorrowland as might have been more logical.

In what may well be more bad news for soldiers in the renewed Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine, a video has materialized indicating just how quickly authorities are apparently assembling the fleet of 1,000 FPV drones said they’d obtain for kamikaze strikes on invading troops.

An opposition organization active in Moscow-allied Belarus says it took a page from its invasion-fighting neighbors to the south by using drones to drop munitions on a Russian warplane that had been used to assist rocket strikes on Ukraine, purportedly inflicting considerable damage.

In yet another sign of the swiftly increasing use of UAVs around the globe, Spain’s national air traffic control company Enaire reports the number of drone flights it managed last year increased by a whopping 70% over 2021.

It appears global drone giant DJI may be readying its first 2023 product launch earlier than expected, with leaked evidence suggesting a new UAV in the works could be a Mini 2 SE positioned toward the lower end of the company’s pricing scale, and currently being readied for a February 9 introduction.