After grounding approximately 800 drones in its fleet in Oct. 2019, the Department of the Interior has formally banned its staff from using Chinese-made drones as of January 29th.
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt says the department decided to ban Chinese-made drones over potential espionage concerns, and over concerns that images taken with drones could be “valuable to foreign entities, organizations, and governments.” In response to the ban, industry heavyweight DJI said that it is “extremely disappointed" by the order, which "inappropriately treats a technology's country of origin as a litmus test for its performance, security and reliability.” Inconceivably; the FAA has failed to listen to some of the most expert and authoritative voices in aviation, once again. Earlier this month, AMA, EAA and several other groups requested that the FAA extend the official comment period on the proposed rule for remote identification of UAS (Remote ID). The FAA has declined this request. The comment period will end on March 2, 2020. Fighting for a better remote ID rule continues to be the top priority. To achieve the best possible outcome, members of the aviation
community have made a request that ‘everyone help.’ As a result of a partnership with Silvus Technologies, hybrid-electric UAS provider Skyfront has combined its five-hour endurance Perimeter UAS with Silvus’ high-power StreamCaster radios, resulting in the Perimeter XLRS, which can fly for up to five hours while maintaining command and control links and streaming real-time video up to 60 miles from the ground control station. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-Unmanned!!!
Airborne-Unmanned 02.04.20 is chock full of info in this Weekly News Episode, Tuesday, February 4th, 2020... Presented by Aero-TV veteran videographer and Airborne Hosts Sophie Hurlock, Brianne Cross, Christopher Odom, and Laura Hutson, and is supported by ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell, Chief Videographer Nathan Cremisino, and Aero-Journalist Tom Patton, this episode covers:
- Department Of The Interior Bans Use Of Chinese-made Drones; DJI Issues Statement
- FAA Denies Request for Remote ID NPRM Extension
- Skyfront, Silvus Technologies Partner To Produce Long-range UAS
- AUVSI, CTA File Joint Amicus Brief Supporting Federal Preemption of the Airspace
- FAA Placed A TFR Around Kobe Bryant Accident Site
- Empire Drone Company Receives FAA Approval To Spray Crops By Drone
- DroneUp Launches Airspace Planner With Native LAANC Integration
Get Comprehensive, Real-Time, 24/7 coverage of the latest aviation and aerospace stories anytime, at aero-news.net. And be sure to join us again next week for the next edition of "Airborne-Unmanned" here on Aero-TV. Thanks for watching. See you, again, next week!
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