Drone Ban CCP Update, 1st Cat 2 Drone, New DJI Model, & FAA Authorizes Commercial BVLOS

Welcome to Weekly UAS News Update. We have four stories for you this week:

1. The Canning CCP Drone Act update (not a good one)
2. A first Category 2 drone with the FAA
3. A brand new DJI drone model
4. The FAA authorizes commercial BVLOS flights without a visual observer

Let’s get to it!

Canning CCP Drone Act Update

Not so good news: A new Senate Amendment to the 2025 NDAA hopes to add the Canning CCP Drones Act. If enacted, the Canning CCP language would revoke all FCC approval for DJI and Autel products, effectively banning new models and grounding current fleets. The NDAA still has to be voted on by the Senate, but the addition of the Canning CCP language would align with the House of Representatives NDAA bill that we’ve talked about before.

Now is a great time for you to reach out to your representatives and your senators as we near the election to let them know that this language would devastate the industry and reduce public safety’s ability to effectively save lives. This is a big deal, obviously, as we’ve talked about before with previous versions and generations of these bills. Of course, we’ll keep you updated as this progresses.

First Category 2 Drone Approved

The first Category 2 drone has hit the DOC (Declaration of Compliance) list on the FAA website. This is the DJI Matrice 3D and 3D Thermal that are now approved for operation over people under Category 2 and Category 3 using the AVSS parachute system. We’ve talked about AVSS in the past; they’ve been making great strides in getting their stuff approved.

If you’re not familiar with the Matrice 3D, it’s the one that goes inside the DJI Dock 2. Both the Matrice 3D and 3DT are actually variable categories between Cat 2 and Cat 3 depending on the weight. More approvals should begin to hit the DOC list as AVSS tests more parachutes. We actually did an interview with the CEO of AVSS a couple weeks ago; it’s available on the Pilot Institute, so make sure to check it out if you have any questions about what they do.

New DJI Drone Model Leaked

There are some DJI leaks for a new drone – yes, a totally new model. This is the DJI Neo. It hit the FCC database this week, showing a 2S battery, which is a smaller 1435 milliamp-hour battery. According to DroneXL, DJI follows a 30% rule with their battery-to-drone weight, which suggests that this drone would weigh around 170 grams.

There are leaked pictures that show a possible prototype very similar to a DJI Mini series drone. Currently, there are no leaked specs that we could find that made any sense, and we also can’t verify that the leaked images are indeed for this model. So take this with a grain of salt at the moment, but we’ll certainly keep you updated as we see more.

FAA Authorizes Commercial BVLOS Flights

The FAA has finally authorized the first commercial drone operation Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) without using any visual observers. The approval goes to Zipline and Wing Aviation. I’m guessing that this is an approval without a waiver under Part 135, since other operators have actually been able to do this under Part 107 waivers.

The FAA stated that the companies are sharing planned flight routes with other authorized airspace users by using Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) systems. We’re still expecting to see a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) later this year that would normalize BVLOS operation for drones. As always, as I’ve mentioned before, don’t get your hopes up too high with this NPRM. It is likely that it’s still going to be fairly difficult to attain, although there would be a path that would make it a little bit easier.

Community Update

We have our July drone photo contest winner! This month is Derek Paulson with this beautiful photo called “Beautiful Mountain Lake Outside Glacier National Park.” Congratulations to Derek, who will receive a custom-made Pilot Institute Trophy and a $250 gift card. We’ll have another contest in August, so stay tuned for more details coming up.

Closing Remarks

That’s it! We just came back from Oshkosh, where we spent the last 10 or so days. We had a great time talking to a ton of you that came to visit, whether airplane students or drone students. We also talked to a lot of visitors that had many questions about drones and airplanes, so this was a very positive week.

Again, thank you if you stopped by the tent to say hi, take a picture, or get some goodies. We’ll be back next year for sure. In the meantime, the next big event that we’re going to be at is Commercial UAV Expo, which is in Las Vegas and will be held the first week of September. Make sure you come and visit; we’ll have a big booth again and be able to shake hands and see all of you over there.

That’s it for now. Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you on Monday for the live show!