Public Flight Showcases Personal Air Mobility at Osaka’s Smart Mobility Expo LIFT Aircraft Takes Flight in Osaka LIFT Aircraft marked a major milestone this week with a public demonstration of its HEXA aircraft at the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan. The HEXA flight at World Expo 2025 took place at the specially built “EXPO […]
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As beads flew through the air and brass bands blared along Bourbon Street, a largely unseen force hovered above the Mardi Gras revelry: drones.
For the first time in the celebration’s centuries-old history, drones were deployed at scale during the final, most crowded week of New Orleans’ famed Mardi Gras festival — not to film the festivities, but to keep them safe.
As part of the 2025 Mardi Gras events, the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) partnered with Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team to provide aerial surveillance throughout the city’s carnival corridors. The result: more than 140 drone flights, totaling 45 hours of flight time, during peak Mardi Gras celebrations.
The drones offered what law enforcement calls “UAS overwatch” — real-time situational awareness from above, giving officers on the ground a live, high-altitude look at crowd movements, traffic bottlenecks, and potential threats.
“This is the first time UAS is being used on a large scale during Mardi Gras,” said Chris Sanders, senior manager for Verizon’s Frontline Crisis Response Team, which specializes in emergency communication and drone deployment for public safety agencies. “To be asked for by name speaks to the trust we’ve built and how seriously we take our responsibility to support first responders.”
The deployment of drones for crowd monitoring isn’t unique to New Orleans. Across the country, police departments are increasingly integrating drones into daily operations. In Chula Vista, California — home to one of the nation’s most sophisticated police drone programs — drones are launched to the scene of 911 calls before officers even arrive. In New York, the NYPD has used drones during events like Times Square’s New Year’s Eve ball drop and during large protests to track crowd movement.
And just recently, the Palm Springs Police Department hugely expanded its Drone as First Responder (DFR) program. That move made Palm Springs the largest radar-enabled municipal drone response zone in the United States.
But across all police departments — NOPD or otherwise — drone use is not without controversy. Privacy advocates have raised concerns over warrantless surveillance and the potential for drone technology to expand beyond oversight into overreach. Civil liberties groups like the ACLU have urged departments to develop transparent policies around data storage, facial recognition, and accountability.
Still, departments like the NOPD see drones as a vital modern tool, particularly for large-scale events where ground visibility is limited and resources are stretched.
“Mardi Gras is one of the largest events the NOPD manages each year,” said Officer Reese Harper, NOPD’s director of communications. “Utilizing Unmanned Aircraft Systems during this year’s festivities provided our officers with enhanced situational awareness, helping us monitor crowds, respond more effectively to potential concerns, and keep the celebration safe for everyone.”
With more than a million people flooding the streets of New Orleans during the multi-week Mardi Gras season — a celebration that injects an estimated $1 billion into the city’s economy annually — the stakes are high. For the NOPD, drones served as an extra pair of eyes, scanning the skies for signs of trouble.
Verizon Frontline, which provides emergency tech infrastructure like mobile hotspots and portable cell towers to public safety agencies at no cost to the supported agencies, has increasingly leaned into drone support. Their Crisis Response Team operates on a 24/7 basis, rapidly deploying drones and communications tools during everything from hurricanes to wildfires.
The company’s growing footprint in public safety comes amid increased competition among telecoms to supply first responders with reliable communications technology — a race that also includes AT&T’s FirstNet network. Verizon touts its three decades of partnership with public safety officials as a reason agencies like the NOPD are turning to them.
Whether scenarios like drones at Mardi Gras becomes the norm for large-scale public events remains to be seen. For now, the drone’s-eye view has landed a spot in the city’s playbook for public safety.
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Ukraine has unveiled its domestically developed laser weapon system, named Tryzub, for the first time. The demonstration was led by Commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces, Colonel Vadym Sukharevskyi, during the international conference “European Defence Industry: Prospects for Cooperation with the Ukrainian Defence Industry.” According to Sukharevskyi, the Tryzub system is capable of destroying a […]
– Shield AI’s V-BAT successfully participated in Project Convergence Capstone 5 (PC-C5), a Combined, Joint, and multinational experiment held at Fort Irwin, California, in March 2025. V-BAT operated as part of the 82nd Airborne Division’s missions in “The Box,” Fort Irwin’s famously demanding training area in the Mojave Desert. V-BAT excelled against active jammers, successfully […]
New footage has emerged of the largest of China’s two new tailless stealth fighters, widely referred to as the J-36, although the designation remains unconfirmed. The video in question is perhaps the most impressive view of the aircraft so far and shows the unique three-engine jet on final approach to land at its maker’s factory […]
The NATO Communications and Information Agency and Palantir Technologies Inc. have finalized the acquisition of the Palantir Maven Smart System NATO (MSS NATO) for employment within NATO’s Allied Command Operations (ACO), marking a significant advancement in the modernization of NATO’s warfighting capabilities. “NCIA is pleased to team up with Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) […]
A team of students from the University of Washington is developing self-charging drones that use AI to survey electrical lines to look for potential threats that could knock out power or spark a fire. The group is the winner of the $15,000 grand prize at the UW’s annual Environmental Innovation Challenge. Team Voltair competed against 22 student-created […]AS-DT1 Offers Accurate 3D Measurement in a Compact, Lightweight Design for Drones, Robotics, and More Sony Unveils AS-DT1 Miniature LiDAR Sensor Sony Electronics has announced the AS-DT1, a compact and lightweight LiDAR depth sensor designed for precise 3D measurement. Measuring only 29mm x 29mm x 31mm and weighing 50 grams, the AS-DT1 is now the […]
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News and Commentary. The Drone Integration and Zoning Act (S.1249), currently under consideration in the U.S. Senate, is raising significant concerns across the commercial drone industry. The bill – another reboot of the Drone Federalism Act first introduced in 2017, and the bill of the same name first introduced in 2019 – would fundamentally shift […]
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New Update Offers Greater Flexibility for Photogrammetry and LiDAR Workflows SimActive Inc., a leading developer of photogrammetry software, has released Version 10.4 of its Correlator3D platform. This new version gives users more control over 3D model creation, with advanced tools for both photogrammetry and LiDAR data. Full Control for Diverse Workflows Correlator3D Version 10.4 introduces […]
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