Drones

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced today (July 30) it has authorized the first commercial drone flights without visual observers. The green light comes in Dallas-area airspace and goes to Zipline International and Wing Aviation. The two entities may now deliver packages while keeping their unmanned aircraft separated using technology provided by Unmanned Aircraft System […]

The FAA has approved the use of a parachute-equipped drone for use over gatherings of people without waivers. It’s the first such approval for drones and the key is the parachute, which was developed by Aerial Vehicle Safety Solutions. In this case the chute is on a DJI M3D or M3TD and can fly over […]

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted Amazon’s Prime Air drone program permission to conduct flights “beyond visual line of sight” (BVLOS), allowing the company to scale its drone delivery operation. To obtain the BVLOS approval, Amazon said it conducted several flight demonstrations showing how its drone used onboard detect-and-avoid technology to navigate away from […]

Stars and Stripes is reporting a House subcommittee has proposed a bill aimed at speeding up integration of electric aircraft into military operations. Since 2020, the Air Force has had a program called Agility Prime to look at electric aviation’s potential uses, but now legislators want the effort to be ramped up. As part of […]

Ukraine has extended the reach of its Light Sport drone program, this time striking 800 miles inside Russia to damage an oil refinery. The Aeroprakt A-22 completed the mission on May 9, and it would appear the program has expanded to include another homegrown design, the Aerosar Nynja. According to Forbes, Friday’s attack was Ukraine’s […]

Canada continued a buying spree of new military aircraft on Tuesday with the announcement it’s acquiring 11 MQ-9 Reaper drones and all the associated gear from General Atomics for about $2 billion. The Reapers will be armed and will be used in military operations and to patrol the far reaches of Canada’s North, an important […]

Another incremental increase in delivery drone autonomy is being hailed as big improvement in efficiency for the fledgling services. Wing Delivery, which is owned by Google parent company Alphabet, says the FAA is now allowing its drones to operate beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) without human observers. According to DroneLife, the FAA has given […]