Category Archives: Business News

Insitu Gets $71M US Navy Blackjack Contract

BlackjackInsitu Inc., Bingen, Washington, is being awarded a $71,555,347 firm-fixed-price contract for six low-rate initial production Lot V RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aircraft systems.  This contract provides for the procurement of the air vehicles, ground control stations, launch and recovery equipment, shipboard equipment kits, and systems engineering and program management.

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Air Tractor Enters UAS Market

Air Tractor 502Crop-spraying specialist Air Tractor, Inc. has announced its expansion into the field of unmanned aerial systems. The recent acquisition of Hangar 78 UAV, and its flagship aircraft, the Yield Defender unmanned aerial system (UAS) will create the foundation of Air Tractor’s development and visionary integration of unmanned technology to complement its core agricultural and fire-fighting aircraft lines.

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Year-Over-Year US Drone Retail Sales Soar

In the past 12 months (ending April 2016), drone sales in the USA have grown 224 percent year-over-year to nearly $200 million, according to The NPD Group’s Retail Tracking Service. Over the past six months (ending April 2016), sales growth has accelerated to more than four times higher than the same time period last year*. The following brands are leading the industry in drone sales according to percent of U.S. dollar share: DJI, Parrot, Protocol, Yuneec and 3D Robotics (12 months ending April 2016). Continue reading →

Dedrone Gets $10M Funding for Drone Detection Platform

DroneTracker

Dedrone, developer of civilian drone detection system, announced that it has raised $10 million in Series A funding. The round was led by U.S.-investor Menlo Ventures, one of the world’s premier venture capital firms investing in consumer and enterprise technologies. Dedrone will use the fresh capital to accelerate the advancement and sophistication of its drone detection technology and to expand its sales and marketing teams.  Continue reading →