DroneXL

09/24/2025

Auterion Raises $130M to Scale AI-Powered Drone Swarms for Defense by Haye Kesteloo Auterion, the Swiss-American drone software company behind the open-source PX4 autopilot system, has secured $130 million in Series B funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners to accelerate deployment of AI-powered drone swarms for military operations. The funding round values the Arlington, Virginia-based company at “north of $600 million” according to Bloomberg. The funding comes as Auterion fulfills a $50 million Pentagon contract to deliver 33,000 AI-enhanced “strike kits” to Ukraine, representing one of the largest autonomous technology deployments to date. Pentagon backing validates combat-proven drone OS Founded in 2017 by Dr. Lorenz Meier, creator of the widely-adopted PX4 autopilot standard, […] Software

Auterion, the Swiss-American drone software company behind the open-source PX4 autopilot system, has secured $130 million in Series B funding led by Bessemer

09/24/2025

RoboFalcon 2.0: The Drone That Flies Like a Bird by Rafael Suárez For every drone pilot who has watched a bird effortlessly glide on the wind and felt a pang of jealousy, this one’s for you. Researchers at Northwestern Polytechnical University have unveiled RoboFalcon 2.0, a flapping-wing drone that so perfectly mimics the flight of a bird that it can take off and fly slowly on its own—a massive breakthrough for this type of aircraft. Photo credit: School of Aeronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China This isn’t just a cool science experiment; it’s a revolutionary step towards creating drones that are far more efficient and agile than anything we have today. It’s […] Industry

09/24/2025

DJI Mini 5 Pro Beginners Guide - Start Here - Get Ready For Your First Flight by Haye Kesteloo Good day folks. Shawn here from Air Photography. This is a beginner’s guide for the brand-new DJI Mini 5 Pro. When new drones like this get released, beginner’s guides help those who are brand new get familiar with the hardware and basic functionality. This guide is designed for those who have never flown a drone before, covering everything needed for a safe, successful first flight. With that said, let’s jump in and get started. What’s in the box We’ll go over everything that comes in the Fly More kit. There are several bundles available for the Mini 5 Pro, but […] Photography Fly App Mini 5 Update

09/24/2025

DJI Mini 5 Pro NEW Next-Gen Return To Home Demonstration by Haye Kesteloo What’s up, everybody? Shawn here from Air Photography. Today I’m going to do a quick demonstration of the next-gen advanced return to home of the Mini 5 Pro. This new return to home was first introduced on the DJI Air 3S and then again on the DJI Mavic 4 Pro. With it, the drone builds a real-time map on its outbound flight that allows it to traverse extremely difficult environments using its obstacle avoidance and the real-time map it has built. This could be extremely beneficial if you have to take off from something like a balcony, out of a […] Photography Air 3S Mavic 4 Mini 5

What's up, everybody? Shawn here from Air Photography. Today I'm going to do a quick demo of the advanced return to home of the Mini 5 Pro.

09/24/2025

The Real Reason Your New DJI Mini 5 Pro is Overweight by Rafael Suárez For years, the number 249 has been a sacred, almost mythical figure in the drone world. It is the magic weight, in grams, that separates a “toy” from a “real” drone in the eyes of many regulators, allowing us to fly with more freedom. So, when the brand-new DJI Mini 5 Pro started hitting the scales at 252 or even 253 grams, the community was in an uproar. What was going on? Did he ate too much? Photo credit: Mads_tech / Reddit Well, last night, one intrepid redditor did what our community does best: he took his brand-new, expensive drone […] Mini 5

So, when the brand-new DJI Mini 5 Pro started hitting the scales at 252 or even 253 grams, the community was in an uproar. What was going on?

09/24/2025

Gamer Crashes DJI Mini into Plane, Gets $156K Fine & Jail Time by Rafael Suárez In what might be the most expensive and boneheaded drone flight of all time, a veteran of the video game industry has been sentenced to jail time and a staggering $156,000 fine for crashing his DJI Mini 3 Pro into a firefighting airplane. Yes, you read that right. He hit a plane. This + plane = not good.Photo credit: DJI As PetaPixel reports, the pilot, Peter Tripp Akemann, co-founder of the company behind hits like Call of Duty, apparently forgot he wasn’t in a video game and flew his tiny drone directly into a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) zone over […] Mini 3 Angeles Flight Restriction

Akemann’s drone collided with the firefighting plane, punching a football-sized hole in its wing. The plane, one of only two available to fight the blaze

09/23/2025

Lockheed's Skunk Works Unveils New "Vectis" Stealth Drone by Rafael Suárez The secretive and legendary Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, the same minds that brought us the F-117 Nighthawk and the F-35 Lightning, have just pulled the curtain back on their newest creation: a stealthy, autonomous combat drone called Vectis. Photo credit: Lockheed Martin Unveiled on September 21st, Vectis is a Group 5 Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) designed for one primary purpose: to survive in the most dangerous, contested airspace on the planet. It’s a powerful new entry into the high-stakes race to build a fleet of robotic “loyal wingmen” for the U.S. Air Force, and it’s a serious contender. A Legacy […] Martin

The secretive and legendary Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, the same minds that brought us the F-117 Nighthawk and the F-35 Lightning, have just pulled the

09/23/2025

Drone Chaos Shuts Down Copenhagen and Oslo Airports by Rafael Suárez The skies over Scandinavia fell silent. On Monday night, the bustling airports of Copenhagen and Oslo were turned into ghost towns, forced to shut down for hours after multiple sightings of large, unidentified drones in their restricted airspace. As Reuter reports, the closures stranded tens of thousands of passengers, diverted dozens of flights, and sent a ripple of alarm across a continent already on high alert. This wasn’t a case of a lost hobby drone. According to Danish police, this was the work of a “capable operator” in a sophisticated, coordinated display. It’s a story that highlights the extreme vulnerability […] Technology

The bustling airports of Copenhagen and Oslo were turned into ghost towns, forced to shut down for hours after sightings of unidentified drones

09/23/2025

DJI Osmo Action 4 drops to $249 on Amazon in 17% discount by Haye Kesteloo The DJI Osmo Action 4 Standard Combo is now $249 on Amazon, down from $299, a 17% price cut highlighted in recent deal coverage as a limited-time offer. The latest price follows DroneXL’s earlier report on the camera’s $299 sale—from a $399 launch price—giving creators another chance to grab DJI’s 4K/120fps action cam for less. For DroneXL readers, this matters because the Osmo Action 4 pairs a 1/1.3-inch sensor with 10-bit D-Log M color, deep-freeze endurance, and quick magnetic mounting, making it a versatile capture tool for low light, fast action, and harsh environments at a meaningfully lower cost of […] Osmo Osmo Action

The DJI Osmo Action 4 Standard Combo is now $249 on Amazon, down from $299, a 17% price cut highlighted in recent deal coverage as a limited-time offer. The

09/23/2025

Police Drones May Soon Scan License Plates From the Sky by Rafael Suárez A disturbing new report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has revealed the next frontier in police surveillance: drones equipped with automated license plate readers (ALPRs). Tech companies like Flock Safety are actively developing and pitching these systems to law enforcement, creating a powerful new tool that can track the movements of citizens from the air without a warrant. Photo credit: Flock Safety This fusion of drone technology with mass data collection is raising major alarms from privacy advocates. It’s a development that transforms the drone from a responsive tool for emergencies into a proactive instrument of mass surveillance, and […] as First Responder Technology drone Drones

A disturbing new report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has revealed the next frontier in police surveillance: drones equipped with automated

09/23/2025

No Weight Tolerance for DJI Mini 5 Pro in United States as per FAA Drone Regulations by Haye Kesteloo Unlike the European Union’s approach, the FAA provides no manufacturing tolerance for the 250-gram weight threshold for drones such as the DJI Mini 5 Pro. US regulations are strict: any drone weighing 250 grams or more requires registration, regardless of how small the excess weight may be. Sharp FAA Weight Threshold The Federal Aviation Administration maintains a rigid 250-gram cutoff under 14 CFR Part 107 and recreational flying rules. As industry experts note, “The problem is that the threshold is very strict: if your drone measures at or above 250 grams, it must be registered.” This means DJI Mini 5 […] Photography Mini 5 ID States

09/23/2025

EASA Confirms DJI Mini 5 Pro Retains C0 Status Despite 252g Weight by Haye Kesteloo The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has officially confirmed that the DJI Mini 5 Pro maintains its C0 classification, even though many units weigh 252-253 grams. EASA engineer Natale Di Rubbo clarified that the prEN 4709-001 standard allows a 3% tolerance on maximum take-off mass during certification. The announcement brings relief to thousands of drone pilots across Europe who were concerned about the Mini 5 Pro’s real-world weight exceeding the critical 250-gram threshold established by EU Regulation 2019/945. This weight limit separates drones that can be flown without additional licensing requirements from those requiring more complex certifications. EASA Engineer Provides […] Rainmaker Mini 5

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency officially confirmed that the DJI Mini 5 Pro maintains its C0 classification, even many units weigh 252-253 grams.