Drone News Update

Welcome to your weekly UAS News Update. We have four stories for you this week: the FAA abruptly shut down all airspace around El Paso, Texas, DJI's former Vice President of Sales has been detained in China on bribery charges, a new bill could give Kansas City police the authority to take down drones during the 2026 World Cup, and a drone pilot is facing federal charges after flying over a highly sensitive military site and posting the video on YouTube. Let's get to it.

First up, a major story out of Texas where a reported dispute between the FAA and the Pentagon led to the complete shutdown of airspace around El Paso International Airport. The FAA issued a NOTAM classifying the airspace within a 10-nautical-mile radius of the airport as "National Defense Airspace." The order was effective for 10 days and even authorized the use of deadly force. This grounded everything: commercial flights, cargo, and even air ambulance operations. According to reports from CNN and CBS News, this drastic measure was a result of the Pentagon's plan to test a high-energy counter-drone laser at nearby Fort Bliss. The problem was, they hadn't received the final safety sign-off from the FAA. The Pentagon reportedly wanted to use the laser to target cartel drones crossing the border, but the two agencies had a meeting scheduled for a week later to finalize safety protocols. It seems the Pentagon wanted to move faster, and the FAA responded by shutting everything down.Next up, some big news from inside DJI. The company's former Vice President of Sales has been criminally detained in China on suspicion of accepting bribes. The executive, identified only by his surname Yuan, was in charge of DJI's global sales operations from May 2019 through May 2024. According to reports, he is suspected of accepting "huge" amounts of money through illicit deals involving "channel partnerships and order allocations." This is a sell-side problem, meaning it's about corruption in how DJI's drones were sold and distributed, not how they were built. In our third story, Kansas City police could soon have the authority to take down drones during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. A new bill has been introduced called the Counter Drone State and Local Defender Act. It would temporarily grant state and local law enforcement the power to intercept and disable drones that pose a threat. Currently, only federal agencies have the legal authority to use counter-drone systems to jam, seize, or shoot down a drone. This bill would create a pathway for local agencies to get that power and this legislation could become a model for how security is handled at future large-scale events like the Super Bowl. And finally this week, a story that serves as a perfect example of what not to do. A drone pilot in Maryland is facing federal charges after allegedly flying his drone over the Raven Rock Mountain Complex and then posting the footage to his YouTube channel. If you're not familiar with Raven Rock, it's often called the "second Pentagon." The airspace above it is classified as restricted national defense airspace. According to the court affidavit, a military official saw the video on YouTube and reported it to the FBI. Investigators then traced the video back to the pilot, searched his home, and seized the drone. He's now been charged with a knowing or willful violation of national defense airspace, which carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison. That’s it for this week, We’ll see you in the premium community for Post Flight, our show where we talk about these stories and share opinions that aren’t always suitable for YouTube and on Monday for the live Q&A! https://dronexl.co/2026/02/17/drone-second-pentagon/https://dronexl.co/2026/02/16/dji-former-sales-vp-bribery-charges/https://dronexl.co/2026/02/17/kansas-city-police-drones-world-cup/https://dronexl.co/2026/02/11/faa-el-paso-airspace-pentagon-laser-test/

Welcome to your weekly UAS News Update. We have four stories for you this week: the FAA has issued several large fines to pilots, Paladin Drones launches a new NDAA-compliant drone, a new GAO report flag s major safety gaps for BVLOS integration, and an Amazon delivery drone crashes in Texas. Let's get to it.

First up, the FAA is sending a very clear message: The days of claiming ignorance are over. The agency posted a public enforcement summary detailing fines and license actions against drone operators, and the penalties are steep. The largest fine was a whopping $36,770 for an operator who flew a drone near emergency response aircraft during a wildfire back in April 2023. Two other fines involved flights in TFRs, with one operator getting hit for over $20,000 and another having their license revoked entirely. The FAA also fined an operator $14,790 for flying near State Farm Stadium during the Super Bowl in 2023. Beyond fines, the FAA is also taking licenses. They suspended the license of an operator involved in that drone light show incident in Florida, where a 7-year-old boy was seriously injured. They also suspended the license of a pilot who flew over an NFL game in Baltimore. The agency has updated its policy to require legal action when a drone endangers the public, violates airspace, or is used in a crime. Don't be that guy. Check your airspace, use B4UFLY, and fly safe. Next up, Houston-based Paladin Drones has launched its new Knighthawk 2.0. The new Knighthawk 2.0 is fully NDAA-compliant. For years, Paladin has built its DFR programs on modified DJI hardware like the M30T and M350, which works great but creates issues for agencies concerned about federal restrictions. This new drone was revealed at the World Defense Show in Saudi Arabia, which suggests Paladin may be looking for market globally instead of remaining domestic. The new Knighthawk 2.0 was created in partnership with the Polish Company, Beyond Vision. This gives them a clean supply chain and credibility for international defense sales.Now for the specs. Paladin claims the Knighthawk 2.0 has a flight time of over 40 minutes, a top speed above 40 mph, and can get to a 911 call scene in under 70 seconds. That’s a 20-second improvement over their previous claims. It’s equipped with 4K wide and zoom cameras, a 640p thermal imager, and 5G/LTE connectivity. Next up, a new report from the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, is raising some serious questions about the future of drone integration. The report flags significant safety gaps in the FAA's plans for integrating drones into the national airspace, especially for Beyond Visual Line of Sight, or BVLOS, operations. And finally this week, a story that shows exactly why that GAO report is so important. An Amazon Prime Air delivery drone crashed into the side of an apartment complex in Richardson, Texas. According to local officials, the drone struck the building, fell onto a nearby sidewalk, and began smoking. Thankfully, no one was injured, and while smoke was visible in the video, the drone never actually caught fire. This isn't the first time an Amazon drone has crashed during testing. In fact, we saw two Amazon drones crash into a crane in Arizona last year. Incidents like this, even when they're minor, highlight the real-world challenges of operating autonomous aircraft in dense residential areas. And thankfully, there have been no injuries, but this is even more evidence that these operations NEED FAA oversight. Join us later for Post flight, where we’ll be talking about the El Paso TFR and sharing some opinions about these stories that aren’t suitable for YouTube! https://dronexl.co/2026/02/08/amazon-delivery-drone-north-texashttps://dronexl.co/2026/02/07/faa-names-and-shames-drone-pilots/https://dronexl.co/2026/02/09/paladin-ndaa-knighthawk-2-drone/https://avweb.com/flight-safety/gao-flags-gaps-in-drone-integration-plans/

Welcome to your weekly UAS News Update. We have four stories for you this week: FAA NOTAM creates invisible no-fly zones, the FAA has reopened the comment period for BVLOS rulemaking, SkyeBrowse launches a new AI feature to improve 3D models for crash scenes, a DJI drone helps save a 96-year-old woman from a fire in Texas. Let's get to it.

First up this week, the FAA has issued a security notice creating new "invisible" no-fly zones that could affect pilots nationwide, especially in urban areas. The notice, NOTAM FDC 6/4375, was issued on January 16th. It prohibits drones from flying within 3,000 feet laterally and 1,000 feet above stationary and mobile assets from the Departments of Defense, Energy, and Homeland Security. The FAA is classifying this as "National Defense Airspace." The big problem here is that there's no practical way for us pilots to know where these moving restricted areas are. Unlike a TFR for a stadium, these assets aren't going to show up on B4UFLY or other mapping apps, because that would be a major operational security issue for federal agents.Next up, another important update from the FAA. They are reopening the comment period for the Beyond Visual Line of Sight, or BVLOS, rulemaking. But you have to act fast. The comment period is only open for two weeks, from January 28th to February 11th, 2026. The FAA is specifically looking for feedback on electronic conspicuity. The original proposal from last year suggested giving drones presumptive right-of-way over manned aircraft, unless the manned aircraft was broadcasting its position with something like ADS-B Out. As you can imagine, that got a lot of pushback from the general aviation community.Now, the FAA is asking seven specific questions to get more data before finalizing the rule. They want to know what alternate electronic conspicuity devices exist, how quickly they could get to market, and if their performance standards should match ADS-B. This is a critical moment for our drone industry. The outcome of this will determine who bears the cost of airspace safety—drone operators or manned aircraft pilots.Next up this week, some cool new tech for our first responders. SkyeBrowse, the 3D modeling platform, just released a major update that uses AI to solve one of the biggest headaches for public safety drone pilots: inconsistent model quality. The new feature is called "SkyeBrowse Thinking." It automatically analyzes a 3D model as it's being processed. If the AI detects that the model doesn't meet quality standards, it automatically re-processes it with optimized settings, all without the user having to do anything. In addition to this, Skyebrowse is also reporting 40% faster website performance, 2x faster internal tooling, and the ability to upload 10 videos at once. And finally this week, a real-world drones-for-good story! A DJI Matrice 30T drone is being credited with helping save the life of a 96-year-old woman during an apartment fire in Euless, Texas. Fire crews were called to the scene around 1 a.m., but before the first engine even arrived, a drone was automatically launched from a nearby fire station as part of the city's DFR program. The M30T's thermal and zoom cameras immediately gave the incident commander a clear view, showing heavy fire already breaking through the roof.Based on that live aerial feed, the fire chief was able to call for a second alarm and request mutual aid from other cities right away. This was critical because when firefighters got on scene, a bystander told them a woman was trapped inside. Because the chief already knew that backup was on the way, the initial crews were able to focus entirely on the rescue. They entered through a window and pulled the woman to safety. Join us in the community for Post flight, our show where we’ll recap these stories, share opinions that aren’t suitable for YouTube, and discuss some drone parts suppliers that are shutting down.

Welcome to your weekly UAS News Update. We have three stories for you this week the FAA is adding two new UAS test sites, NOAA is officially using drones for daily weather forecasting operations and SiFly and Taranis are teaming up to scale up aerial crop intelligence. Let's get to it.

First up, the FAA has announced it's adding two new UAS Test Sites, which is a huge deal because it’s the first time they’ve expanded the program in almost ten years. The new sites are in partnership with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. This brings the total number of federal test ranges up to nine, joining the existing sites in Alaska, North Dakota, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Texas, and Virginia. If you aren’t familiar, the whole point of these test sites is to create a space for real-world testing to collect the data needed to safely integrate drones into our national airspace.According to the FAA, this is all about advancing Beyond Visual Line of Sight, or BVLOS, operations, as well as things like cargo delivery and managing multiple drone operations at once. The Choctaw Nation site will focus on practical applications like delivery services, infrastructure inspection, and emergency response missions across tribal lands. Meanwhile, the Indiana site will concentrate more on industrial and commercial uses, like cargo logistics, energy infrastructure, and agricultural monitoring. This expansion allows the FAA to gather the data they need to finally build the safety cases and regulations for these advanced operations. Next up, weather drones are officially moving from testing into operational use for US weather forecasting. For decades, forecasters have had a major blind spot in the lower atmosphere, which is where a lot of disruptive weather forms. Now, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, is partnering with a company called Meteomatics to fill that data gap.Meteomatics’ autonomous "Meteodrones" will be flying vertical profiles through the atmosphere to measure temperature, humidity, and wind. This data will be fed directly into the National Weather Service's daily forecasting operations. This is a big step up from a research program that started back in 2024 in North Dakota. Now, it's not just research; it's part of the daily toolkit for forecasters. An initial pilot program is already running in Oklahoma through April of 2026, with drones being managed from a remote "Meteobase." Better data at these critical altitudes means more accurate forecasts and more timely warnings.And in our final story this week, two companies are partnering to tackle one of the biggest challenges in agricultural drone use: scale. SiFly, a U.S.-based manufacturer of long-endurance VTOL drones, and Taranis, a leader in AI-powered crop intelligence, have launched a joint Field Validation Program. The goal is to prove out a new operational model for collecting crop data over massive areas. The star of the show here is SiFly's Q12 drone, with a three hour flight time. This improves the efficiency of data collection and makes the data itself more consistent. The flight time introduces a problem though, data management, which is where the Taranis comes in, processing the data in real time. The program will run during the 2026 growing season to validate how this combination of long-endurance flight and AI analysis can make aerial intelligence more scalable and affordable for farmers and agronomists.That’s it for this week, we’ll see you on Monday for Post Flight, our show where we share our opinions that aren’t always suitable for YouTube and for the live! https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sifly-and-taranis-launch-field-validation-program-to-accelerate-aerial-crop-intelligence-at-scale-302666560.htmlhttps://dronelife.com/2026/01/14/faa-adds-two-new-uas-test-sites-to-advance-drone-integration/https://dronedj.com/2026/01/16/meteomatics-meteodrones-noaa-weather-drone/

Welcome to your weekly UAS News Update. We have three stories for you this week, Updates to the Foreign Drone Ban, the Department of Homeland Security is creating a new permanent counter-drone office, and the Super Bowl LX no-fly zone. Let's get to it.

First up, according to a report from Reuters, the U.S. Commerce Department has withdrawn its plan to impose sweeping restrictions on Chinese-made drones. This was the result of the ANPRM we discussed last year, and it was targeting the entire supply chain. Including things like flight controllers, operating software, and data storage. Reports say it’s a diplomatic move, as the White House is reportedly freezing some actions against China ahead of a planned meeting between the President and Chinese President Xi Jinping in April. It’s also possible the rule is no longer necessary, as the goal has been achieved through the FCC’s actions. Speaking of, the FCC has clarified its own rule. The agency partially reversed its sweeping ban on ALL foreign drones, but with some major catches. The new rule exempts drones on the Pentagon's "Blue List"—so aircraft from companies like Parrot, Skydio, and Wingtra are now fine. It also exempts U.S.-manufactured drones, as long as domestic parts account for 65 percent of the cost—but that exemption only lasts until 2027. The most important part for our community is that the ban STILL covers DJI and others. And again, this does NOT ground your existing drone, it means no new DJI models can get the required FCC authorization to be sold in the U.S.Next up, the Department of Homeland Security is getting very serious about counter-drone operations. The DHS announced it's creating a new permanent office called the "Program Executive Office for Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Counter-UAS." This is being launched with an initial $115 million investment to beef up security for the America250 celebrations and the 2026 FIFA World Cup. But that's just a small piece of the puzzle. This funding is on top of a $500 million counter-drone program announced last October and a potential $1.5 billion contract for Customs and Border Protection to acquire new counter-drone tech.DHS revealed it has already conducted over 1,500 missions to protect the U.S. from "illicit drone activities" since 2018. That works out to more than four counter-drone operations every single week, happening mostly under the radar. This new office will formalize and expand that capability. It will also serve as the coordination hub for local police departments, which were recently given authority to disable drones under the SAFER SKIES Act. So, what does this mean for you? The World Cup is basically the justification for building a permanent, nationwide counter-drone infrastructure. The equipment and training your local police get for the World Cup won't just disappear after the games. And finally this week, a very important public service announcement if you're going to be anywhere near Northern California for the Super Bowl. The FAA has released its advisory for Super Bowl LX, which is happening on February 8, 2026, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, and they are not messing around. In the days leading up to the game, from February 3rd through the 7th, there will be a TFR within a one-nautical-mile radius of downtown San Francisco, up to 1,000 feet AGL. On Game day, Feb. 8th, the TFR expands to 2 miles at 11:00 AM, and then to 30 miles at 2:30 PM. If you haven’t seen it already, the results of our survey on how the industry will be affected by the FCC ruling is out. So go check out that video and we’ll see you on Post flight, the show where we share our opinions that aren’t suitable for YouTube. Have a good weekend. https://dronexl.co/2026/01/13/dhs-permanent-counter-drone-office/https://dronexl.co/2026/01/10/commerce-department-drops-drone-restrictions/https://dronexl.co/2026/01/08/super-bowl-faa-drones/https://www.flyingmag.com/fcc-eases-foreign-drone-ban-dji/