FAA
Every UASFeed story on FAA — across defense, counter-UAS, industry, commercial, policy, and tech, newest first.
-
Commercial & Delivery
Utilities Are Ditching DJI for Storm Response — and the Real BVLOS Bottleneck Turns Out to Be Data, Not Rules
At InnovateEnergy Week in Texas, UAS leads from Southern Company and Entergy described moving off DJI onto Blue UAS-vetted American drones — and warned that the binding constraint on scaling storm-response flights is data management, not the FAA's pending Part 108 BVLOS rule.
-
Policy & Regulation
FAA Cracks the Door Open: How Part 107/135 Operators Can Get Authorized to Fly Inside World Cup 'No Drone Zones'
The FAA's June 22 NOTAM update confirms certain drone operations may be permitted inside World Cup security airspace with DHS authorization — giving Part 107 and 135 operators a concrete approval path via [email protected] amid $100,000 fines and the new DETER enforcement push.
-
Policy & Regulation
FAA Misses Trump’s February Deadline on BVLOS Rule as Right-of-Way Fight Stalls Part 108
The FAA has blown past a White House deadline to finalize Part 108, the rule that would replace case-by-case BVLOS waivers with a routine certification pathway — stalled chiefly by a proposed inversion of crewed-aircraft right-of-way precedent that drew more than 1,600 opposing comments.
-
Counter-UAS
World Cup C-UAS Crackdown: 39 Drones Seized, Criminal Charges in First Six Days
Multi-agency federal operations across 8 U.S. host cities logged 145 drone incursions and seized 39 aircraft in the first six days of FIFA World Cup 2026, with criminal charges — including an illegal-reentry case in Atlanta — marking early serious enforcement outcomes.
-
Tech & Builds
Drone Ground Control Stations Explained: MAVLink, Datalinks, and the MQ-9 Flight Deck
Ground control stations span from a $50 telemetry radio running open-source Mission Planner to hardened USAF shelters managing satellite-linked MQ-9s worldwide. Here's how MAVLink, mission-planning software, datalinks, and military GCS tiers actually work.
-
Tech & Builds
Optionally Piloted Aircraft: The Platform That Bridges Crewed and Autonomous Flight
Optionally piloted aircraft hold manned airworthiness certificates while enabling fully autonomous operations—closing the regulatory gap that stalls pure UAVs. From proven Afghan cargo resupply missions to DARPA’s autonomous Black Hawk delivered to the Army in 2026, the concept reshapes military logistics and aviation.
-
Defense & Combat
Langley's 17-Night Drone Siege: What Happened, What Failed, What DoD Still Doesn't Know
For 17 consecutive nights in December 2023, unidentified drone swarms penetrated restricted airspace over Joint Base Langley-Eustis, forcing the relocation of F-22 Raptors — while the military's C-UAS authorities and tools proved wholly inadequate to respond.
-
Policy & Regulation
New Jersey's 2024 Drone Wave: What Federal Investigators Actually Found
In late 2024, weeks of nightly drone sightings across New Jersey and the Northeast triggered a federal investigation, thousands of public tips, and emergency airspace restrictions—before a four-agency joint statement concluded most reports were misidentified manned aircraft, with no foreign nexus and no national security threat.
-
Counter-UAS
Counter-UAS at Airports: Why the U.S. Still Can't Stop a Gatwick-Style Closure
The 2018 Gatwick drone incident cost airlines £50 million and stranded 110,000 passengers — and the perpetrators were never found. Five years on, U.S. airports face hundreds of incursions annually while the FAA still cannot neutralize a drone on its own. Here's how the technology and authority fit together.
-
Counter-UAS
Counter-UAS for Stadiums and Mass Events: How the U.S. Closes the Airspace Gap
Federal no-fly zones have covered NFL stadiums for years, but local police could only watch unauthorized drones — not stop them. Here's how the legal authority gap developed, how the World Cup became a live test for the workaround, and what still isn't solved.
-
Counter-UAS
Soft Targets in the Air Age: The Drone Threat to U.S. Critical Infrastructure
From a copper-wire-rigged DJI Mavic to a C-4-loaded platform aimed at a Nashville substation, drone attacks on U.S. critical infrastructure have moved from theoretical to documented — yet 93% of nuclear sites, 90% of oil refineries, and most major airports remain without active counter-UAS protection.
-
Counter-UAS
Fortem DroneHunter F700: The Autonomous Net-Catcher Closing the Jammer Gap
Fortem's DroneHunter F700 autonomously pursues hostile drones, fires tethered nets to capture them in flight, and tows the platform to a forensics zone — no explosives, no jamming. With 4,500+ captures, a Replicator 2 contract, and $25M from Lockheed Martin, it is the Pentagon's answer to GPS-waypoint threats that jammers cannot touch.
