Drone News: GAO Report, Officials Say Stop Using DJI, Axon Acquires Dedrone, & Record Drone Show

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update we have 3 stories for you; GAO Report on Foreign Made Drones, officials tell Fairfax County to stop using DJI, Axon acquires Dedrone, and new record drone show.

First up, the GAO has released a report on the Department of Interior’s stance on foreign drones. Currently, the DOI does not allow foreign drones to be used except for emergency situations such as search and rescue and wild fires. The GAO studied the effects of the policies after the DOI asked them to, covering the 4 most active departments; bureau of land management (BLM), Fire and Wildlife service (FWS), National Park Service (NPS), and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Findings from the GAO are predictable; the majority of drones are now nearing their end of life and replacing them with compliant drones is much more expensive. Due to the reduction in fleet size, bureaus haven’t been able to expand their use of drones and some no longer have enough drones even for emergencies. Even for bureaus that have purchased approved drones, the drones aren’t be delivered until 6 months or more later. The GAO gave the example that in April of 2024, the DOI had purchased 98 drones for fiscal year 2024 and only 46 had been delivered. In another example, the National Park Service purchased drones for wild fire management in March and were not expected to have the drones in hand until October, missing nearly all of the 2024 fire season. The GAO goes on to discuss that compliant drones are not as capable in carrying payloads nor are as reliable. Due to these problems, not only have emergency flights decreased but non-emergency flights for research, surveys, training, and post-storm recoveries have become nearly non-existent. Next up, federal law makers John Moolenaar and Raja Krishnamoorthi from the House of Representatives have urged Fairfax County to stop using DJI. In a letter to the county Board of Supervisors the representatives stated “The PRC-made UAS platforms and censors currently used by Fairfax County collect high-resolution imagery of facilities and individuals at risk, putting them at risk of being collected by the CCP,” This is the first time we’ve seen representatives attempting to influence a particular public safety department on what drones to use or not use. Fairfax county sits just south west of Washington DC along the Potomac river. At this time, we don’t know how the county will respond but we’ll keep you updated if we see more. Third, Axon has finished the acquisition of Dedrone. Dedrone is a counter UAS system that uses RF detection, RADAR, cameras and for authorized users can include hammers, drone take over, and kinetic means to stop a rogue drone. An important note is that the DOD are the only ones currently who are allowed to utilize these tools to stop a drone. We’ll keep you updated if we see more from Dedrone and Axon! Last up, Sky Elements broke the record this week for the most drones launching pyrotechnics. The city of Mansfield TX partnered with Sky Elements to break the word record of most drones launching pyrotechnics. Sky Elements used 1164 drones to break the record in a free drone show for residents. Cool use of the drones and we’re sure we’ll continue to see bigger and bigger drone shows! That’s all for this week, we’ll see you later in the community for Happy Hour and on Monday for our Q&A! https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-24-106924.pdf https://dronelife.com/2024/10/01/lawmakers-urge-fairfax-county-to-end-use-of-dji-drones-due-to-national-security-concerns/ https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/mansfield-texas-drone-show-guinness-world-record-sky-elements-display/287-a03f5178-feea-43ca-9e06-7e5a5ae2a099