All articles
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Tech & Builds
Skydio's ISR Command Puts Two X10Ds Under One Operator and Hands Target Grids to Strike Platforms, as L3Harris Adds Wraith Radios
Skydio's new ISR Command lets one operator fly two X10D drones and push MISB-encoded target coordinates to strike platforms like the F-16, while L3Harris adds Falcon IV radios and the Wraith waveform. The claims come from the vendors and still need Army testing.
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Counter-UAS
Army Says First E-HEL Laser Counter-Drone Weapons Could Reach Soldiers by Early 2028, After a $464.8 Million LOCUST X3 Award
The Army says its first Enduring-High Energy Laser counter-drone weapons could reach soldiers as early as December 2027 to January 2028, and no later than spring 2028. They will be built on AeroVironment's LOCUST X3 under a $464.8M deal that AV calls the first US production contract for laser weapons.
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Defense & Combat
Army Stands Up FASCOM as Fort Bragg Tests Drones for Breaching and a Lab Study Finds Soldiers Can Run Mixed Air-Ground Teams
The Army has a new autonomy command, breaching tests under way at Fort Bragg and a lab study showing 13 soldiers can run a mixed robotic formation. The open question is whether autonomy can grow from single robots to whole formations.
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Commercial & Delivery
Round Rock Has No Zoning Rule for Zipline's Drone Hub, and the FAA's Draft Assessment Assumes Local Zoning Will Handle It
Zipline started flying Austin-area deliveries from a hub that Round Rock says its zoning code does not cover, while the FAA's draft review of up to 30,000 Austin deliveries a day relies on local zoning to decide where chargers and dropboxes go.
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Policy & Regulation
Tariffs and a Pending FCC Rule Hand Local Police a Drone Bill: Ocean County's $29,428 Kit Versus a Sheriffs' Ask for an Exemption
A 100% tariff on thermal drones and a pending FCC rule that spares federal buyers are landing on local police, who mostly fly DJI. One New Jersey sheriff's office puts its deputy kit at $29,427.99, and the National Sheriffs' Association wants the same exemption federal users get.
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Industry & Contracts
Versaterm Builds LAANC Into DroneSense, but the FAA's Supplier List Only Names Aloft
Versaterm has added Aloft's FAA LAANC authorization to DroneSense, so police drone teams can request airspace approval inside the app at no extra cost. The FAA's list of public LAANC suppliers names Aloft and does not name DroneSense, which fits the company's own description of DroneSense as a secondary provider.
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Defense & Combat
Airbus and Kratos Fly the U740 Valkyrie in Europe, the First CCA to Fly There, With a German Deadline of 2029
Airbus and Kratos have flown the U740 Valkyrie, a Europeanized XQ-58A, in Europe for the first time. The next test is whether Airbus's MARS mission system can make an American airframe a sovereign German combat drone by 2029.
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Policy & Regulation
Drug Traffickers Could Become Africa's Drone Arms Dealers, a Paper Warns. The Hardest Data Comes From Latin America
A new paper warns that drug networks could sell armed drones and the skills to use them to African armed groups, but its own author calls the drugs-for-drones barter claim an unconfirmed lead. The strongest data still comes from Mexico and Colombia.
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Commercial & Delivery
Gastonia Tells Residents Why Walmart Wing Drones Will Fly Over Their Homes, and What the FAA's Charlotte Review Actually Allows
Gastonia's notice tells residents that drones will fly within about 6 miles of a Walmart on N. Myrtle School Road. The FAA document behind Wing's Charlotte operations allows far more: up to 25 hubs flying up to 400 deliveries a day each, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
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Industry & Contracts
Heaviside Unveils Tyr, a Sub-15-Pound Loitering Munition Aimed at Tanks, With Nammo Warheads and a Price Well Under $100,000
At AUSA, US-Norwegian startup Heaviside debuted Tyr, a man-portable fixed-wing loitering munition with Nammo warheads, a 150-mph top speed and comms-denied behaviors. It marks the company's jump from drone-detecting RF sensors to a lethal anti-tank weapon.
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Counter-UAS
Raytheon Swaps the Coyote's Jet Engine for a Rocket Motor, Pushing the Counter-Drone Interceptor Toward SAM Territory
Raytheon's company-funded Coyote Block 2C+RM trades the interceptor's turbojet for a solid rocket motor plus a new seeker and warhead. It has flown three developmental tests and is aimed at faster jet-powered attack drones, but no US military contract for it has been confirmed.
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Counter-UAS
Apaches Shoot Down Three Drones on Ground-Radar Cueing in Operation Skyfall II
At Grafenwoehr on Oct. 6, a Sentinel radar on an Army SGT STOUT passed track data to AH-64E Apache crews, who used it to destroy three MQM-170 Outlaw target drones. Skyfall II built on a March test that showed the Apache could shoot drones on its own.
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