2025 is starting off strong for a drone industry that’s hoping for a bit more freedom to fly. That’s because the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted a significant new Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) waiver to American Robotics, which a subsidiary of Ondas Holdings. This waiver allows the company’s Optimus System to operate autonomously over people and moving vehicles, monitored remotely from Ondas’ Baltimore Global Control Center. The announcement, hailed as a landmark for autonomous drone operations, underscores both the potential and the challenges of scaling BVLOS technology in the U.S. drone industry.
A step forward for drones as first responders
This latest FAA waiver is poised to enhance American Robotics’ Drone as First Responder (DFR) capabilities. DFR programs use drones to respond to emergencies, inspect critical infrastructure and support defense operations, offering quicker response times and improved situational awareness compared to traditional methods.
But the idea of quickly deploying a drone in places where humans aren’t there (at least not yet) doesn’t work if drones are legally required to be within the eyesight of a visual observer. This BVLOS waiver changes that.
Implications for the broader drone industry
While this waiver is a milestone for American Robotics, it also has broader implications for the U.S. drone industry, particularly for sectors reliant on BVLOS operations like drone delivery.
Some drone delivery companies like Google-sibling Wing have gained similar approvals to fly BVLOS and over people. But even those can be tough to come by, and often are restricted to certain areas. Most of Wing’s U.S. drone deliveries are happening in partnership with Walmart in Dallas. Meanwhile, competitor Matternet is still awaiting FAA approval to conduct drone deliveries in Silicon Valley behind visual line of site. (For now, Matternet’s drone deliveries don’t go more than a couple miles because that’s as far as a visual observer can see).
Alas, this waiver demonstrates the FAA’s increasing confidence in autonomous systems and suggests that the forthcoming FAA Part 108 framework may offer a clearer path for BVLOS operations.
The ability for one Remote Pilot in Command (RPIC) to oversee multiple drones, as highlighted by American Robotics, could be transformative. It addresses one of the key barriers to scale: labor costs. However, scalability hinges on regulatory consistency, public trust, and further advancements in detect-and-avoid (DAA) technology.
An important, but narrow win for American Robotics
While American Robotics’ achievement is significant, its application remains largely niche. The Optimus System’s focus on DFR, security, and infrastructure inspection sets it apart from consumer-facing operations like deliveries. The integration with Kestrel airspace management is a strong selling point for safety and efficiency, but it’s unclear how this solution might adapt to the dynamic requirements of urban drone delivery networks.
Still, this waiver represents a critical step in proving the viability of BVLOS operations at scale. Yet to fully unlock the potential of BVLOS drones, the FAA must accelerate regulatory clarity for broader use cases, including delivery and large-scale infrastructure monitoring.
What to know about American Robotics
American Robotics is an American drone company based in Waltham, Massachusetts. There, the team designs and builds industrial drone solutions for rugged, real-world environments.
American Robotics really came onto the scene with its Scout System, which is a “drone-in-a-box” product that relies on AI and is capable of continuous, remote operation. In fact, the Scout System was the first FAA-approved drone system for automated operation beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) without a human operator on-site.
American Robotics was purchased by tech giant Ondas Holdings in August 2021. Ondas Holdings’ other drone-related subsidiaries include Israeli drone maker Airobotics, Inc.
The flagship American Robotics product today, the Optimus System, is now used around the world including in the UAE and Israel. It’s been recently deployed in Texas as part of a massive Texas superhighway of tech that spans a 92-mile stretch along Texas State Highway 130 (SH130).
What’s next for American Robotics and DFR?
American Robotics plans to showcase its capabilities during a live DFR demonstration in Baltimore on Jan. 16, 2025. The event is expected to highlight scenarios where the Optimus System and Kestrel airspace management solution are deployed in real-world situations.
For American Robotics, the event will be an opportunity to prove that their solutions can handle the complexities of real-world applications. For the industry, it’s a moment to assess how far BVLOS operations have come — and how far they still need to go.
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