Drone industry news from UASFeed — procurement awards, defense primes and startups, funding rounds, and the business of uncrewed systems.
For the first time since 1992, GA-ASI won't build an aircraft entirely by itself: Boeing-owned Spirit Defense will design and build FQ-42 Vengeance fuselages at a new Wichita facility as the Air Force aims for at least 500 CCAs by 2032.
Read the story →Kyiv drone maker Airlogix is reportedly in talks to raise $100M at a valuation above $2B, while its Auterion joint venture builds Seth X and Anubis strike drones near Munich under a German-funded order for more than 5,000 aircraft.
Germany has told Boeing it won't buy the MQ-28 Ghost Bat directly. Berlin gave no reason, and reporting relayed from Politico says its drone wingman may now slip to the early 2030s, which opens the door for Helsing, Airbus-Kratos and General Atomics.
Antigravity's 8K 360-degree A1 went on sale Oct 20 in a $799 Follow Me Bundle with Watch and Ring remotes and prop guards, sold at Best Buy. At 351 g it has to be FAA-registered and broadcast Remote ID. The new controller and 4G module aren't sold in the US store.
On Oct. 20, DJI pushed bug-fix firmware to the Mini 2, Mini 3 Pro, Mavic Air 2 and Air 2S. US owners can install it only because of an FCC waiver for drones already on the Covered List, and that waiver is guaranteed only until Jan. 1, 2029.
Less than three months after withdrawing an earlier proposal, Red Cat has made a EUR 39.00-a-share cash tender offer for Steyr Motors, the Austrian maker of the diesel that first powered its Variant 7 drone boat, valuing the company at about EUR 205M.
AEVEX's Specter, a turbojet one-way-attack drone built with Divergent Technologies, made its public debut at AUSA with a swappable nose and a first flight planned for December. Range, payload and unit cost are still undisclosed.
Airbus flew its MQ-72C five times for Army leaders in Huntsville, and the safety pilot never touched the controls. The aircraft was built for the Marines, but Airbus is pitching it to the Army as an autonomous 'truck', and the Army has no formal requirement for one yet.
At AUSA, Fortem and MBDA expanded their deal: MBDA will offer the net-capture DroneHunter for existing air-defense networks, and the two will co-market FireThorn, a radar-guided interceptor with an MBDA warhead built to stop Shahed/Geran and Orlan drones. Export approvals still apply.
WingXpand's xPAIR is a removable autonomy core meant to move between the company's drone, ground rover and boat. The release gives no weight, power or swap-time figures, and its customer claims come without named units or contracts.
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.
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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