Drone News: FBI Seizes Over 600 Drones, DJI M400 Parachute, $100,000 Prize for Mach 1 RC Airplane

Welcome to your weekly UAS News Update, have three stories for you this week: the FBI seizes over 600 drones at World Cup venues, DJI releases M400 Parachute, and Boom Supersonic offers a $100,000 prize for a Mach 1 RC airplane. Let's get to it.

First up, the FBI has seized more than 600 drones flying in restricted airspace around FIFA World Cup 2026 venues. This is a massive number, and confiscations have been recorded in all 11 U.S. host cities since the tournament opened on June 11th. Miami leads the pack with 99 seized drones, followed by Atlanta with 77, and Dallas with 63. Operators caught inside an active World Cup Temporary Flight Restriction, or TFR, face civil fines up to $75,000, criminal fines up to $100,000, up to a year in prison, and the total loss of their aircraft. At least three men in Texas are already facing federal charges. A reminder, flight restrictions surround each stadium with a ring of 3 nautical miles up to 3,000 feet. These are active from three hours before kickoff until three hours after the match ends. There are also 1-nautical-mile rings up to 1,000 feet around fan festivals. And there are continuous restrictions over team hotels and training camps that run all the way through July 21st. Reportedly, plenty of these violators actually hold Part 107 certificates. As always, please don't be that guy who ignores the rules. Every confiscated drone becomes an exhibit for lawmakers pushing for stricter counter-drone legislation. If you are flying anywhere in the country right now, check tfr.faa.gov BEFORE you fly. Next up, DJI has released the AP100 parachute for the Matrice 400! This is a 935g parachute that mounts on the back of the M400, and slows the descent rate below 5m/s or 11mph. This allows the M400 to be C5 or C6 in EASA and UK5 or UK6 in the United Kingdom… However… The AP100 will NOT be released to the US at this time. The parachute is self contained, contains a 1 hour charge using capacitors, and has a built-in flight termination system. In addition, automatic deployment can be programmed in DJI Flight Hub in the event the aircraft breaches a geofence. The parachute will broadcast an alarm and flashing lights to assist with locating the aircraft. This is pretty cool tech, it’s unfortunate that it isn’t coming to the US. Finally, Boom Supersonic founder and CEO Blake Scholl has announced a $100,000 prize for the first amateur-built RC airplane to exceed Mach 1. The prize includes $50,000 in cash and $50,000 in Boom stock. Scholl posted this challenge after a college student went viral claiming his 5-kilogram carbon-fiber dorm-built jet drone could hit 500 miles per hour. But Mach 1 is a very long way from 500 miles per hour. Mach 1 at sea level is roughly 761 miles per hour. For context, the current verified record for a jet-powered RC aircraft is 465 miles per hour. Hitting Mach 1 means dealing with extreme drag and control issues and some massive regulatory hurdles. Under Part 107, we are capped at 100 miles per hour, and the AMA turbine program caps at 200 miles per hour. A legitimate attempt at this prize would require cleared airspace, and lots of approvals. It is awesome to see a major aerospace CEO channel viral engineering talent into a legitimate challenge for the hobbyist community. And the conversation continues on Post flight where we discuss these stories uncensored in the Premium Community, link is in the description. We’ll see you for the live Q&A on Monday. Have a good weekend!https://dronexl.co/2026/07/05/fbi-600-drones-seized-fifa-world-cup-2026/https://dronexl.co/2026/07/02/boom-ceo-100k-prize-mach-1-amateur-rc-airplane/https://dronexl.co/2026/07/02/dji-enterprise-teaser-priceless-below-matrice-30-successor/