Drone News Roundup: Leaked DJI Air 3S, How Anzu Robotics’ Mavic 3 Licensing Agreement Works, and More!
BY Zacc Dukowitz
30 May 2024This week we’re covering a recent leak of the DJI Air 3S, which seems sketchy at best.
We’re also covering the details of Anzu Robotics’ licensing deal with DJI, a video featuring insanely fast white-knuckle FPV flying, an unofficial—but extremely impressive—record for fastest drone in the world, and the NYPD’s new DFR (Drone as First Responder) program to respond to gunshots and other types of crime by drone.
Now let’s get to those links!
Leaked DJI Air 3S?
All … Fake pic.twitter.com/jBluD6dmtR
— 航拍世家 打手 (@DealsDrone) May 21, 2024
The drone industry thrives on DJI leaks. There’s a group of insiders who post reliable leaks ahead of any DJI launch—so reliable that we’ve come to expect pictures, videos, and even full specs well ahead of any official launch. But this one for the Air 3S, which shows it carrying a payload similar to the one on the Mavic 3 Pro, seems to be bogus.
The pictures above came from a Chinese account called SBDJI, and another tweet that came out around the same time claimed to show batteries from the Mavic 4, Air 4, and Air 3S. But none of these drones seem to be actually in the works. The good news? All those leakers we’ve come to rely on quickly rallied to call these out as fake. Based on this pressure test, it seems reasonable to think we can continue relying on our DJI leak machine.
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How Anzu Robotics’ DJI Mavic 3 Licensing Agreement Works
Credit: Anzu Robotics
Since launching its first drone about a month ago, Anzu Robotics has been generating a ton of buzz in the drone industry. The company’s flagship drone is the Raptor, which is basically a DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise built outside of China, using non-Chinese components. (The Raptor also has a thermal version, the Raptor T.)
To be clear, we’re not saying the Raptor is made to compete with the Mavic 3—but that it’s almost an exact clone of the Mavic 3. This is possible because Anzu Robotics has a licensing agreement with DJI. A recent article from Anzu Robotics explains that the licensing agreement allows the company to leverage DJI’s drone technology expertise in a way that’s free from the supply chain concerns that surround DJI drones themselves. Specifically, Anzu’s drones and components are made in Malaysia, not China, and their data is secured by U.S.-based Aloft. Read the article linked below for more on how Anzu Robotics has threaded the supply chain needle to make what is essentially an NDAA-compliant DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise.
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Insanely Skilled High-Speed FPV Flying
Goodness gracious! The speed, the precision—not to mention the guts—that this kind of flying requires is truly impressive. This short video shared by the Drone Racing League featuring insanely fast FPV flying has racked up over 7,500 comments so far on YouTube. Take a moment to watch it all the way through and you’ll see why.
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The Unofficial Fastest Drone in the World
The official Guinness World Record for fastest drone in the world comes in at 224 mph. But this video featuring a drone made by YouTuber Luke Maximo Bell shows him flying up to 298.47 mph, with the drone reaching an incredible 317 mph at its fastest—much faster than the Red Bull drone made to fly alongside F1 race cars (that drone goes up to about 185 mph).
Bell has made a name for himself by tinkering with drones and cameras to create new, brilliant creations, and this isn’t his first foray into making super-fast drones—he’s actually been building them for a while now. Watch the video to see how his high speed drone works, including footage of Bell’s record-breaking flight. (Note: To receive a Guinness World Record you have to have a Guinness official present, which Bell didn’t—but Bell’s achievement here is very impressive nonetheless.)
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NYPD Announces New DFR (Drone as First Responder) Program
Credit: NYPD
The NYPD is launching a DFR (Drone as First Responder) program that will deploy drones automatically to the scene of shootings and other types of 911 calls. The drones will also go to any location where gunshots are detected by a system called ShotSpotter, which uses audio from microphones mounted throughout an area to identify shootings as they’re happening. In DFR programs, drones fly immediately to emergency scenes, providing first responders en route with crucial data about what’s happening there so they can do things like avoid being ambushed, follow suspects, and make determinations about whether an officer is needed at the scene at all.
For now, the NYPD DFR program will extend to five precincts—three in Brooklyn, one in the Bronx, and one that covers Central Park. Two drones will be located on the roofs of each precinct station house, with the pilot located remotely at the NYPD Joint Operations Center at NYPD headquarters in lower Manhattan.
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