Nordic Unmanned’s Flight Services business has come to an agreement with Schiebel Aircraft GmbH to settle outstanding payables in a non-cash transaction where Schiebel buys back one CAMCOPTER asset (Air Vehicle plus spare-parts). The delivery of the equipment will be executed in Q1 2024. The value of the transaction is EUR 927,000 and will result […]
Turkey’s first flying-wing, deep-strike unmanned aerial vehicle has successfully performed its maiden flight, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced on Thursday, the latest addition to the country’s famed homegrown drone fleet. The debut of the new generation air combat fighter, named Anka-3, marks the latest significant advancement in Turkey’s defense capabilities, showcasing the nation’s commitment to […]
Happy 2024, dronies! Last week we looked back at the 11 biggest drone news stories of 2023. But now that it’s the new year, it’s time to look ahead, and there’s plenty of changes, policies and products set for lift off in 2024. Here are the seven biggest 2024 drone stories I’ll be following over the coming year:
Remote ID enforcement will go into effect
The Drone Tag Mini is one of the most advanced Remote ID modules you can purchase, offering a full-featured, unlimited range and network direct remote ID solution.
Remote ID (which is a sort of electronic licensing plate system for drones with a built-in layer of location information) was one of 2023’s biggest drone news stories given that Remote ID rules for drones went into effect on Sept. 16, 2023.
But the rollout was hardly smooth. Remote ID modules quickly ran out of stock, making it impossible to be compliant even if you wanted to be. It’s also drawn criticism from many drone pilots who’ve suggested it’s a waste of effort (which also means a waste of time and money) since the rule likely wouldn’t prevent bad actors from flying unidentified anyway.
Come March 2024, it’ll be interesting to see if that enforcement deadline gets extended once again, though that feels unlikely since most of the best Remote ID modules, such as the U.S.- made Z-RID broadcast modules from Zing, are finally back in stock.
Perhaps more interesting for those seeking juicy 2024 drone stories will be if enforcement actually leads to any meaningful changes in the drone industry. That said, many industry experts are not convinced it will.
“Like a license plate on a vehicle, bad actors will simply stop RID transmissions (akin to removing the license plate on a car) or “spoof” the signal, similar to changing a license plate’s characters,” said Mary-Lou Smulders, chief marketing officer at Dedrone which builds counter-drone and drone detection technology. “These shortcomings will mean that some malicious drone pilots can’t be prosecuted or caught unless there’s more than just Remote ID in place.”
California-based drone maker 3DR will relaunch
A screenshot of 3DR’s website indicating that the company is back.
After a spectacular crash and burn of $100 million in investor funding, 3DR might be back. At the tail-end of 2023, 3DR returned by way of quietly launching a new website as well as a Discord community server.
3DR is a particularly compelling company given concerns around Chinese-made drones, such as the biggest player in the consumer drone market, DJI. Especially since Skydio shut down its consumer drone arm to instead focus on enterprise and defense industries, consumers currently have no options for a good consumer camera drone made in the USA).
We’ll be closely watching the 3DR return in 2024 and its impact on the consumer drone landscape in America. In general, American drone companies will mark among the 2024 drone stories highlights, and given its name, 3DR absolutely should be one of interest.
All the big drone events
Sally French, The Drone Girl, at the Autel booth at CES 2023.
Some of the top drone events of 2024 are pure fun, like the drone group trips to exotic destinations. Others are major conferences, which is where you can expect to see the biggest product launches. Conferences and summit also tend to be where we get the most insight on the state of drones today, whether it’s the latest policy plans from the FAA, or how politicians are thinking about shaping drone laws.
Among the biggest events to expect new product launches are CES 2024, which is just over a week away from Jan. 9 through 12 (held annually in Vegas), and AUVSI XPONENTIAL 2024, which is set for April 22 through 25 in San Diego.
The shrinking consumer drone market
Sure, conferences mean product launches, but expect most of this year’s product launches to be enterprise focused.
That’s because, at least according to the second edition of the annual Drone Manufacturers Ranking 2023 from Drone Industry Insights (DII), the consumer drone market is shrinking. While the drone market as a whole is set to grow to $54.6 billion by 2030 (that’s a compound average growth rate (CAGR) of 7.1%), it’s actually being dragged down by the consumer market, which will slightly shrink in size by an estimated CAGR of -0.3%.
A growing enterprise market
Graphic by Drone Industry Insights
The drone industry is set to still grow, but the consumer side is shrinking. How does that work? That’s all because the enterprise side is set to grow at a CAGR of 7.7%, according to DII predictions.
That just leads to all sorts of new use cases and companies offering drone services
“Spurred by developments from war zones to more reasonable drone legislation and BVLOS becoming easier, the drone economy across all sectors is simply going to keep growing,” Smulders said. “If BVLOS becomes easier to accomplish, drone deliveries will become a reality and DFR means that more first responder agencies will want even more drones. However, there are also some non-obvious industries that would increase their investments in drones, like the energy industry using drones with cameras equipped for visual inspections of power lines and other equipment.”
More drone companies pivot toward military applications
Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks touring Skydio’s factory in California. Photo courtesy of Skydio.
Many drone companies that started as consumer product makers have pivoted toward making enterprise-focused products. And of those, a steady stream of them are focusing almost primarily on government and military applications.
For example, Parrot, which arguably deserves all the credit for bringing drones to consumers thanks to its Parrot AR.Drone (which yes, preceded the DJI Phantom) and later the Bebop consumer drones, is all about enterprise products. Its flagship drone is the ANAFI Ai, which is designed for photogrammetry on an open software platform. A sibling model called ANAFI USA is made in the U.S. and meets critical security standards including being Blue sUAS program approved, NDAA & TAA compliant.
Then there’s Red Cat, the parent company of Teal. Teal started as a teenage boy’s vision of building modular drones primarily for FPV flying, but is now mostly focused on its Teal 2 drone, which was designed for military nighttime operations augmented by FLIR’s new Hadron 640R sensor. And by the way, that teenage boy, George Matus, is now in his mid-20s and was recently named CTO of Red Cat.
Another critical example is Skydio, which this summer announced it would shut down its consumer drone arm to instead focus on building drones and related products for enterprise and defense industries. It caught the attention of the Department of Defense. Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks even paid Skydio’s factory a personal visit in late December.
You will finally see a drone light show in person
Sally French, The Drone Girl, at the stage of a Sky Elements drone light show in Oakland, California.
This is more of a prediction, and I’m counting on you to make it happen. But I’m willing to whip out my crystal ball and say you will see a drone light show in person this year. Consider it an opportunity to tell your own 2024 drone stories.
Of course, this means you’ll have to help me out to bring this prediction to fruition by heading out to your city’s Fourth of July evening celebration, or perhaps visiting a theme park or attending a conference. You’ll be glad you did.
And if you want to ensure you don’t miss these 2024 drone stories as they develop (and almost certainly many more drone news pieces to come), enter your email address below to subscribe to The Drone Girl daily email newsletter.
DRONELIFE is pleased to present this insightful guest post by Matt Sloane, the Founder and CEO of Skyfire Consulting. As a prominent figure in the drone industry, Matt brings a wealth of expertise and firsthand experience to the table. In this reflective piece, he shares valuable observations on the state of the drone industry in […]
You deserve to feel confident that you’re making the right drone purchase. That’s exactly what I want to assist you with today, so let’s get right into it.
The Tello drone is a favorite at The Drone Girl. Priced at $99, it qualifies for (and steadily wins) the title of best drones under $100. With safety features that simultaneously make the drone easy to fly, it’s the best drone for kids, plus the best indoor drone. And with accompanying tools like simple educational coding software, it’s also the best STEM drone. But lately, the drone community has been wondering: was the Tello drone discontinued? Here’s what we know:
Tello drone discontinued: what availability looks like now
Over on the DJI shop, the $99 Tello drone, as well as the $149 Tello Boost Combo are both listed as sold out — as they have been for a few months now. You can still purchase the Tello drone from some third-parties, but even there quantities are limited. On camera retailer Adorama, the Tello is sold out entirely. On Amazon, stock is painfully limited to largely used versions only. We did still spy it on Walmart.
We reached out to DJI to find out if this is simply a matter of demand outpacing the pace of production — or if production has ceased completely.
“Currently, the Tello series is still being sold in the United States, and we will continue to provide technical and after-sales support to the customers,” a DJI spokesperson told The Drone Girl. “We have been working hard to provide global users with drone products that meet different needs. We will continue to launch new products that are accessible, easier to use and meet entry-level or educational needs, so stay tuned.”
So what does that actually mean in human speak? It’s hard to say for sure, but the fact that DJI has said it’s being sold but not actually in production doesn’t exactly bode well for more units being in production.
Because the DJI spokesperson mentioned the launch of new products, though, it doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s no hope for people seeking an excellent, affordable STEM drone — even if the Tello drone is, in fact, discontinued.
About the DJI Tello drone
The DJI Tello drone first launched in 2018 — and it’s still held up incredibly well as a relevant drone more than five years later. It’s managed to strike the perfect balance of simplicity with high-tech — particularly astounding since so many other drones have rapidly iterated over a similar period (we’re on the 4th edition of both the DJI Mini and DJI Mavic, for example).
The Tello isn’t quite a DJI product, though it’s closely tied to DJI. It’s actually made by another Shenzhen-based tech company called Ryze Technology, and it combines DJI flight technology with an Intel processor to create a budget camera drone that also can be used to teach newbies the basics of programming.
What to do if you can’t get your hands on the Tello drone
If there’s a chance you’d want the Tello drone, move fast. They’re already sold out from major retailers like Adorama and DJI itself, and there are very few left for sale on other big retailers like Amazon.
If you’ve missed the boat on getting one from a standard retailer, here are your next steps:
First off, consider buying a used drone. Buying a used drone has many benefits (beyond the obvious of acquiring something that’s otherwise sold out). It can often be cheaper, and you get the benefit of helping the environment by buying something that is otherwise collecting dust in someone else’s closet besides demanding another unit be produced. Just beware of the risks of buying used drones.
But if you truly can’t find any actual Tello drones, then it’s time to look into Tello drone alternatives. There are many drones that are quite similar to the Tello — and at a similar price point.
An excellent runner-up to the Tello, particularly for STEM classrooms, is the Robolink CoDrone Mini Programmable Coding STEM Educational Drone Kit. It’s designed for kids ages 8 and up, but honestly it’s great for adults learning to code, too. Priced at $99 (the same price as Tello), it’s designed primarily to introduce pilots to basic coding concepts. Using simple programming language Blockly, you can code the drone to fly in patterns or do flips, and you can also control the lights via code.
Robolink CoDrone Mini Programmable Coding STEM Educational Drone Kit
And if all else fails and you’re desperate to have a DJI (or at least DJI-affiliated) drone for around $100 that’s great for beginners or kids, then perhaps your best bet is to be patient. As DJI told The Drone Girl, the company says it still is on a mission to launch new products for entry-level and educational needs. Given that, you might just have to wait for what 2024 has in store.
Indian Army Awards Contract to Johnnette Technologies for Supply of Made-in-India Johnnette JF-2 Tactical, India’s First Crash Resistant Drone Johnnette Technologies, a leading Indian Unmanned Systems manufacturer headquartered in Noida, has secured a contract from the Indian Army to supply its flagship tactical fixed-wing UAV, the Johnnette JF-2, for border surveillance. The company proudly asserts […]
Unifly Successfully Completes Groundbreaking UTM Cybersecurity Model Project in Partnership with FAA Terra Drone Corporation‘s UTM Solutions provider Unifly, has announced the successful completion of the Unified UTM Cybersecurity Model project in collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The project, awarded under the Broad Agency Announcement call 003, aimed to refine a UTM cybersecurity model, […]
This article published in collaboration with JUIDA, the Japan UAS Industrial Development Association. by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian J. McNabb A partnership between Japanese and Mongolian UAV and healthcare organizations recently completed a blood delivery between an Ulaanbataar hospital and transfusion center with the intention of eventually establishing regular medical delivery services in the area. […]
Nordic Unmanned’s Flight Services business has come to an agreement with Schiebel Aircraft GmbH to settle outstanding payables in a non-cash transaction where Schiebel buys back one CAMCOPTER asset (Air Vehicle plus spare-parts). The delivery of the equipment will be executed in Q1 2024. The value of the transaction is EUR 927,000 and will result […]
