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AUVSI Xponential is taking place in Denver this week.  This morning, the keynote sessions kicked off, including a conversation on cybersecurity issues with AUVSI's Chief Advocacy Officer Michael Robbins and Tobias Whitney, VP of Strategy and Policy at Fortress Information Security

If you work in the drone industry, you probably know what a "commercial" drone is. It's a drone used for business, a drone used to make money.

If the FBI thinks drones are a threat, why doesn't congress?

DJI, the world's leader in civilian drones and aerial imaging technology, today reinforces its commitment to customer data and privacy with the validation of the DJI Core Crypto Engine.

Advanced Aircraft Company (AAC), a developer and manufacturer of distributed electric propulsion tilt-wing and multi-rotor uncrewed aircraft systems for defense applications, today announced it has been selected by AFWERX for an SBIR Phase II contract focused on the further development to investigate its potential to fill capability gaps in the Department of the Air Force (DAF).  This contract will enable AAC to continue the development of its highly versatile Hybrid Advanced Multi-Rotor (HAMR) Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) for the United States Air Force. 

Twice this week, football games in the U.S. were abruptly halted while stadium security teams attempted to deal with rogue drones over the field.

OSU Launches Counter-UAS Center of Excellence, Forms Partnership Agreement to Support Department of Homeland Security

In a company first, DroneShield has announced the sale and deployment of the DroneSentry counterdrone system at a U.S. international airport.

As the number of drones grow, so do concerns about how to keep airspace safe for both crewed and uncrewed aircraft. Ohio is pioneering technology to do just that.

Black Sage Technologies has won a contract to provide counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) and services at an undisclosed international airport.

UAVOS, a developer and manufacturer of security and commercial solutions based on advanced Unmanned Systems, has completed a drone-based forest inspection project to assess the general timber environment. Combining digital data and UAVOS's customized software has provided innovative analysis of forestry data. UAVOS's methodology is an advance for forestry, allowing foresters not only to optimize and improve the way data is collected and analyzed on a daily basis but also helping to reduce environmental risks and to generate economic wealth in the sector. The project has been carried out under partnership with a forestry and land management company. 

NASA recently signed a Space Act Agreement with San Francisco-based Zipline "to pursue a future vision of U.S. aviation that includes delivery drones and air taxis," says the NASA announcement.

"The logistics industry is the leader of the pack when it comes to using drones."
That's according to a recent article in the American Journal of Transportation. The article describes how uncrewed technology has been embraced by companies involved in warehousing, port management, transportation, and other logistics-focused operations.

The AUDROS system, a drone solution that captures foreign drones in a net, has completed successfully testing in the Czech Republic.

Today, airspace security leader Fortem Technologies announced a significant milestone in its efforts to combat the growing global threat of rogue UAVs.

Seeking to maintain a comprehensive record of drone incursions on an international basis, Israel-based counter-drone technology provider D-Fend Solutions has launched the Drone Attack & Incident Tracker on its website. The database, which uses publicly available resources to track drone incursion incidents, includes the incident description, date, sector affected and the source of the information.

This week, leading air and ground robotic security company Asylon, Inc. revealed that it has been granted three beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) waivers from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

This week, leading air and ground robotic security company Asylon, Inc. revealed that it has been granted three beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) waivers from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Big figures surrounding the advanced air mobility (AAM) industry have increasingly dominated headlines over the last year, painting a picture that is bound to impress. Yet many complexities regarding the reality of getting AAM off the ground have yet to be solved for Australia.

An increase in drones flown by clueless, careless, and criminal pilots requires organizations across industries to look beyond their typical physical security controls and evaluate drone detection technology to protect people and property.

Drones are increasingly being incorporated into workflows to help gather high-quality data about assets. Over time, developers have needed to push drone technology to meet end users' demands for more intuitive and responsive flight, data collection, processing, and analysis. In the "Drones and AI: Improving Workflows" webinar, Commercial UAV News connected with Yariv Geller from vHive, Toomas Välja from Hepta Airborne, Kabe Termes from Skydio, and Eric Wittner from Intel Geospatial, to discuss how AI and ML improve workflows from data collection, processing, and analysis to the final deliverable.

Today, smart airspace security market leader Dedrone and Carahsoft Technology Corp., The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider®, announced a strategic partnership that will bring the anti-drone security solution to the Public Sector. This new agreement will see Carahsoft serve as Dedrone's Master Government Aggregator®, making Dedrone's smart airspace technology available through Carahsoft's Illinois Learning Technology Purchase Program (ILTPP) and NJSBA Technology & Cybersecurity contract, as well as its network of reseller partners.

Come learn the latest cutting edge weather-related tools, techniques, and tradecraft stemming from government and industry that will highlight awareness and maximize your flight operations and mission success:

Hidden Level teams with local police to guard Texas stadiums from illegal drones at sporting events

For the past few years, we have been talking about two distinct industries when it comes to small and large drones. The reasons behind that are varied, but the way in which unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and air taxis that define advanced air mobility (AAM) ecosystems can and will operate in the same airspace have been positioned as distinct. But is it right to stay focused on these differences rather than their similarities?  

While some reports have gotten caught up with the potential of the drone market, the team at Drone Analyst has always been committed to sorting out the hype versus the reality. Their fifth annual market report provides our most comprehensive look at drone buyers, service providers, business and public agency users, and software services.

We're hiring drone pilots and drone pilot assistants for contract and full-time positions.

The police department in the city of Austin, Texas plans to create a new Robotics Unit to oversee the operations of its drone fleet.
Within the next several months, the Austin Police Department is expected to request that the City Council approve funding for the creation of the unit, Assistant Chief Scott Perry said in an interview.

Police responsible for safety at a Guns N' Roses concert that drew 14,000 fans used Elistair Orion 2 tethered drones for security – here's why customers including the French defense agency and CNN Air are using tethered drones to secure large events.

 Fortem Technologies, leaders in airspace security and defense for detecting and defeating dangerous drones, announced successful performance in detecting small UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) before a team of U.S. Government evaluators based on an Irregular Warfare Technical Support Directorate (IWTSD) requirement in May 2021.

In our podcast installment of the Emerging Threats in National Security series, Wiley's Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Co-Chair Josh Turner and National Security Co-Chair Hon. Nazak Nikakhtar discuss how the government is approaching legal and regulatory actions to address national security risks posed by UAS, areas that may require regulatory action, and the future of the UAS industry.

State Farm Arena, home of the Atlanta Hawks, has implemented the latest in drone technology as a part of the venue's cleaning and disinfecting protocols. The award-winning arena has enlisted Lucid Drone Technologies, a cutting-edge drone company based out of Charlotte, NC and its D1 Disinfecting Drone (D1) to help in sanitizing the 17,500 seat venue between events, a first for any NBA arena.

Drone experts at Kansas State Polytechnic hosted its "UAS FAA Regulation Update" webinar on Feb. 25, which provided clarification on upcoming drone rule changes. Spencer Schrader, an Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) flight instructor at the school, hosted the webinar. Kansas State Polytechnic has been a leader in drone flight and research since its UAS program started in 2007.

H3 Dynamics and Thales have jointly trialled a real-time autonomous drone flight monitoring system in an urban environment in Singapore.

The Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) concept enables the warfighter — and/or another aircraft — to instantly determine if an entity encountered is friendly or hostile. With aircraft, the specific technology employed is an IFF transponder, that listens for an interrogation signal and then sends a response that identifies the broadcaster. 

For a long time, drones were almost exclusively used by countries in matters of public safety. However, they are now being bought by and used for a diverse range of reasons across the African continent.

For years, there has been optimistic talk that drones – the popular name for UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) – would become ubiquitous and used for security purposes. Instead, drones have been popular among hobbyists but much less so in the commercial sector, undermined by strict federal government restrictions.
It's changing. The drone-industry is becoming an increasingly promising technology-intensive industry, one that will employ far more workers than it does today while enhancing the efficiency and security of a variety of businesses.

The General Services Administration—the federal government's central buyer—will no longer include drones in its suite of offerings, except those previously approved by a small innovation unit inside the Defense Department.

The Defense Department is moving out with its first strategy to coordinate and plan for future threats posed by small drones at home and abroad. The Jan. 7 strategy comes after the military has contended with years-long proliferation of quadcopters and other cheap, widely available aircraft that can easily ferry a weapon or spy on Americans.

The rising accessibility of Drones has made many dangerous labor-intensive jobs within a spectrum of industrial sectors ripe for displacement. Drones are not only safe to operate, but they are cost-effective solutions that deliver a range of added utilities such as in-depth data collection – which otherwise done manually would cost countless man-hours risking human lives. The emerging Drone market is valued to be around 127 Billion USD, according to PwC. Government Agencies, Specific Industries such as Oil & Gas, Mining and Power industry, to name a few, have been heavily utilizing Drone Technology for the great deal of benefits it brings to the table. Today, Drones are tackling several issues ranging from monitoring disease, border petrol to even delivering Pizza!
Here is a more in-depth segmented view of some of the great positive impact Drone Technology can offer to the human society:

On December 28, the FAA announced the release of final rules covering unpiloted aircraft or drones in the National Airspace System in the US. Not surprisingly, the new rules call for the remote identification of drones (known as Remote ID), allowing operators of small drones to fly over people and at night time under given conditions. At this time, drones account for the fastest-growing transportation sector, with more than 1.7 million aircraft registrations and roughly 203,000 FAA-certificated remote pilots.

Kevin M. Burke, president and CEO of Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA), criticized the decision to exclude airport executives from the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Drone Advisory Committee (DAC), the panel tasked with advising federal regulators on new policies around unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Burke called on the FAA and the Department of Transportation to appoint airport representatives to the committee seats allocated to airports since the DAC's creation in 2016.
"This was an egregious oversight that raises serious questions about the committee's ability to address significant safety, security and operational issues associated with the use of unmanned aircraft systems and urban air mobility systems in the airport environment," Burke said. "Airport operators must be represented on the committee as we work to integrate drones into our National Airspace System safely, securely and effectively. We will work with the incoming Biden administration to address the outgoing Trump administration's ill-advised and inappropriate exclusion of airports from the Committee."

Drones in America host Grant Guillot has discussed the future of drone delivery throughout 2020 but, this week, he takes a a look at how real estate once thought not to have much value – rooftops – can now serve as "droneports."

Terra Drone Corporation (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Toru Tokushige, hereinafter called "Terra Drone"), the world's leading provider of industrial drone solutions, has completed their investment on Slovenia-based drone manufacturer and integrator, C-Astral Aerospace (hereinafter called "C-Astral").

Section 2209 of the FAA Extension, Safety and Security Act of 2016 hasn't been implemented yet.  But a group of drone industry advocates urge the FAA to act quickly, in a letter sent to the FAA.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has made the ban official: no agency may use DOJ funds for any unmanned aircraft manufactured by a "Covered Foreign Entity: … any entity that is determined or designated, within the Department of Justice, to be subject to or vulnerable to extrajudicial direction from a foreign government," which includes drones by the world's leading manufacturer, DJI.

A group of drone industry stakeholders has signed a letter asking the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to "hold fast" to the intended December 2020 release of the rulemaking on Remote Identification  for unmanned aerial systems.

Amazon is launching a new Ring security camera that's fixed on top of a flying drone.

Small unmanned aircraft systems are helping agents track more undocumented immigrants, a division chief with the U.S. Border Patrol's Rio Grande Valley Sector said recently.

The People's Republic of China is one of 66 individuals and organizations commenting on an FAA Federal Register Notice on the certification of some drones.