Drone News: New Congress Drone Act, Aloft Adds SGI, DAC on Stadium TFRs, & New DJI Agras

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update, we have 4 stories for you
this week: New Drone Act in Congress, Aloft adds SGI, the DAC
recommends Changes for Stadium TFRs, and the new DJI Agras!


First up, is the soon-to-be proposed "Drones for First Responders
Act". Not to be confused with DFR: Drones AS first Responder,
which is actually something useful. This bill is introduced by
Elise Stefanik, NY republican, who was being the proposed full
DJI ban we discussed a few weeks ago. So you know we're in good
capable hands here. The new act aims to transition public safety
operations away from Chinese-made drones by increasing tariffs,
providing grants to purchase US-made drones, set a limit on when
imported drones must not contain Chinese parts (2030), and
provides grants to US manufacturers. There's no word though on if
US manufacturers will be able to produce the same amount of
drones and what will happen if production is limited. The act
claims that drones manufactured in China have a risk of potential
data vulnerability. So I'm gonna ask the same question I've been
asking for the last few years: if they are a threat, why are we
allowing them to be used for the next 6 years under this
proposal? Keep in mind, this is NOT a bill nor a legislative
proposal yet and is subject to change. We don't have a bill text
at this time, but we'll let you know when we see one.
https://dronelife.com/2024/04/21/new-legislation-balances-national-security-concerns-with-support-for-u-s-drone-industry-drones-for-first-responders-act/
Second up, Aloft has added automated SGI waiver requests into Air
Control! In case you don’t know what an SGI waiver is, it stands
for Special Government Interest. SGI waivers allow for public
safety and other UAS operators to fly in emergency operations
that may require entering a no-fly zone or flying beyond visual
line of sight. To get an SGI waiver, a department or operator had
to call the FAA’s SOSC. Aloft Air Control is now approved to
provide these waivers as needed. This should help all those
public safety agencies and those who operate as volunteers.
https://www.aloft.ai/blog/aloft-introduces-automated-sgi-waivers-in-aloft-air-control-streamlining-access-to-restricted-airspaces/
Next up, the DAC is recommending changes to stadium TFRs! Stadium
TFRs close over 125,000 square miles of airspace annually and
impact thousands of legitimate UAS operations. The DAC’s
recommendation includes a drone-specific TFR that would be
limited to the fence line of the stadium, reducing the
restriction by 99% to just 11 square miles. Pretty cool for those
operators who fly in cities!
https://www.einpresswire.com/article/704774366/drone-advisory-council-announces-recommendation-to-modernize-airspace-restrictions-at-sporting-events
Last up, DJI is continuing to release new drones! The Agras T25
and the Agras T50 were released this week. Along with these new
Agras, DJI released Smart Farm, which allows for plot management
and daily operations. The new T50 comes with Active Phased Array
RADAR, a four-sprinkler Kit, and 9-minute fast charging
batteries. The T50 has a maximum payload of 50kg of spreading
payload or 40kg of spray payload and can spray 50 acres per hour.
We’ll keep you updated if we see more from DJI!
https://dronexl.co/2024/04/22/dji-agras-t50-agricultural-drone/
Alright, that’s it, have a great weekend and we’ll see you next
week on Monday for the live!