Drone News: Part 108 NPRM Updates, Skydio's New Drones, $130M for Auterion, Drone Collision Update

Welcome to your weekly UAS News Update. We have four stories for you this week: Part 108 NPRM updates, Skydio unveils two new drones for specialized operations, Auterion secures a massive $130 million in funding, and an update to the story about the Super Scooper mid-air collision. Let's get to it.
First, let's talk about some Part 108 NPRM stuff. The deadline is approaching for submitting your comment. Please take the time to write a comment about how this would affect your ability to fly BVLOS. There are currently 800 comments ONLY. There were over 50,000 comments on the Remote ID NPRM.DJI sounded the alarm this week on the NPRM. The company is warning that the rules, as they’re currently written, could effectively ground the vast majority of drones being used today, not just DJIs, and sideline thousands of skilled pilots. While everyone agrees we need a clear path forward for BVLOS, DJI points out some fundamental problems in the draft.If you haven’t yet written your comment for Part 108, time is running out. All comments must be submitted by October 6th, 2025.Next up, American drone manufacturer Skydio is expanding its lineup with two new specialized drones. The Skydio R10 is designed for tactical indoor situations where you wouldn't want to send a person. It’s a compact, 10-by-10-inch quadcopter that weighs 1.7 pounds and has built-in blade guards for navigating tight and/or dangerous spaces. It offers features for first responders, including onboard lighting, a two-way audio system to communicate with suspects or victims, and Skydio’s obstacle avoidance for flying in complete darkness. The R10 is slated for early access this autumn.Then there’s the F10, which is built for speed and endurance. This is a fixed-wing drone that can hit speeds of over 80 miles per hour and stay airborne for more than 90 minutes. This is a good fit for large-scale BVLOS missions like monitoring wildfires or conducting long search and rescue operations. The F10 is scheduled for release in the first half of 2026. Both of these drones also integrate into the X10 ecosystem, using the same software, controllers, and workflows. It’ll be interesting to see if we can get our hands on these to put them to the test. Next up, Auterion has secured a massive $130 million in Series B funding to scale its defense software. The company, which began with open-source drone software, has evolved into a major defense contractor. They're creating an operating system for autonomous systems across air, land, and sea. According to reports, their technology is already being used on the battlefield in Ukraine, where they are delivering tens of thousands of AI "strike kits" under a Pentagon contract. This new funding will help Auterion expand its work on AI-enabled software for large-scale, coordinated drone operations. And finally, an update to last week’s story about the drone that hit the firefighting airplane in LA earlier this year. We found out that Peter Akemann is facing jail time and a staggering $156,000 fine after crashing his DJI Mini 3 Pro into a firefighting airplane. The pilot pleaded guilty to unsafe drone operation and was sentenced to 14 days in prison, 30 days of home detention, 150 hours of community service, and a total fine of $156,000. And in post-flight this week, our show on the premium community where we share our opinions, we’ll cover these stories and we’ll talk about the DJI Mini 5 weight-gate. We’ll see you there! https://dronexl.co/2025/09/19/dji-warns-faa-bvlos-rules-ground-drones/https://dronexl.co/2025/09/23/gamer-crashes-dji-mini-plane-fine-jail/https://dronexl.co/2025/09/19/skydio-unveils-new-drones-for-indoor/https://dronelife.com/2025/09/23/auterion-secures-130-million-series-b-to-scale-defense-software/