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