Weekly UAS News Update: DJI Sues DoD, CNN Brinc Guardian drone

We have three stories for you this week: DJI sues the Department of Defense, a CNN drone that injures three people, and Brink releases the Guardian. Let’s get to it!

DJI Sues Department of Defense

First up, DJI is suing the Department of Defense for what it claims are multiple violations of the Administrative Procedures Act and the Fifth Amendment. The lawsuit claims that DJI was incorrectly classified as a Chinese Military Company (CMC) and added to the DoD CMC list, which resulted in terminated contracts, client reluctance to enter into new agreements, a tarnished reputation, and exclusion from contracting opportunities.

DJI is seeking monetary compensation for the cost of the suit, removal from the DoD CMC list, and stopping all elements of the DoD from taking action based on the CMC list designation. We’ve got a full video on the lawsuit coming out soon because, quite frankly, this lawsuit just released a ton of information that I think is very damning, so stay tuned for more in-depth discussion.

CNN Drone Incident

Next up, a CNN drone crashed into a crowd causing multiple injuries. The specifics are unclear, especially what drone was being used, but DroneXL reported that one person suffered multiple lacerations to their finger, one person was hit in the head, and then the third person had to be transported via stretcher from the scene. No word, like I said, on what the drone was being flown, but it reportedly struck a light pole while attempting to navigate between trees and then after striking the light pole, the drone then fell into the crowd. I will keep you updated as we hear more from this, but there definitely needs to be more information. I’m sure there will be an NTSB investigation as well as an NTSB report.

BRINC Drones Releases The Guardian

Last up, Brinc has released the Guardian for Public Safety. The Guardian is their new drone. It comes with a 42-minute flight time, obstacle avoidance, 40x hybrid zoom, a 640 thermal camera, night vision, 4G compatibility, two-way audio communication, a built-in emergency light and sirens, a built-in loudspeaker, geofencing capabilities, integrated radar, and ADS-B In. I think this might be the first non-DJI drone that I see with ADS-B In capabilities, which I think is a great, great functionality. It is being released now. The drone doesn’t appear to be on sale just yet, with deliveries beginning in mid-2025. Now hopefully we’ll get a chance to test one of those and share our thoughts.

Community Update

A quick reminder: voting is open for the October drone photo contest. Photos were submitted through the community site for the theme of “spooky,” so take a minute to check out the creative photos and vote for your favorite. We’ll leave a link in the description.

That’s it! That’s all we have for you this week. Hopefully, I’ll be back next week with my full voice, as you can tell this is not right here, but I will see you in Happy Hour hopefully later today unless I’ve gotten worse since we recorded this, and then I’ll see you on Monday for live Q&A.