Drone News Roundup: DJI Mavic 3 Cine Tour of the Faroe Islands, Mavic 4 May Have Big Battery Upgrade, and More!

This week we’re covering an aerial tour of the Faroe Islands shot entirely on the Mavic 3 Cine.

We’re also covering a leak showing the Mavic 4 will have a big battery than the Mavic 3, mysterious drones swarming the Pentagon for 17 days, a drone possibly discovering a Civil War submarine that’s been lost since the 1860s, and Wing’s partnership with Serve to expand its delivery offerings.

Now let’s get to those links!

Faroe Islands with the DJI Mavic 3 Cine

Like Iceland, the Faroe Islands is one of those iconic destinations for drone videography. With its striking coastal cliffs, rugged green mountains, and needle-like rock pillars, the Faroe Islands are a great place to get amazing aerial shots. This video from YouTuber darylswalker does a good job of capturing that natural beauty. Shot entirely on the Mavic 3 Cine, the footage shown here was captured in both “5.1K and 4K, with D-Log and M-Log profiles for true cinematic quality,” according to its creator.

LEARN MORE

Mavic 4 Leak Shows Big Battery Upgrade

Source: Jasper Ellens

Last week we reported on an FCC filing discovered by drone industry insider Jasper Ellens, which seemed to be an attempt to disguise the Mavic 4. Since then, the FCC has confirmed that the filings for ‘JV31’ and ‘JV32’—the identifiers apparently used to hide the Mavic 4—are for the same device, and that it’s a drone.

So what have we learned from these filings? In addition to featuring a new, reworked camera housing, it looks like the Mavic 4 will have a much bigger battery than the Mavic 3—the Mavic 4 will have a 99.5 Wh battery (14.76V/6,471 mAh) while the the Mavic 3 has a 77 Wh (15.4V/5000 mAh). , The bigger battery could translate to a much longer flight time, increasing the Mavic 3’s 43 minutes to an even longer battery life.

LEARN MORE

Mysterious Drones Swarm the Pentagon for 17 days

Reports recently came out about strange drone incursions over the Pentagon toward the end of last year. Starting on the evening of December 6, 2023, the drones were seen over the Langley Air Force Base for 17 days in a row. There were two types of drones spotted: small quadcopters and 20-foot long fixed-wings, reportedly traveling around 100 mph. The drones  typically appeared around sunset and flew off, then returned, circling the base.

The sightings led to weeks of meetings that included a range of federal departments, from the Department of Defense, to the Pentagon’s UFO office, to the FBI. Due to concerns about interfering with commercial airliners, the drones couldn’t be brought down with directed energy weapons, and drone jammers were similarly rejected for concerns about disrupting 911 coverage. Police tried following the drones but couldn’t track them to their source, and the drones were using a different frequency than those used by commercial drones, making it hard to track their signal. To this day, the source of the drones remains a mystery.

LEARN MORE

Drone May Have Found Civil War-Ear Submarine in New Jersey

A drone equipped with a magnetometer—basically a big metal detector—recently detected something large and metallic under the water in Rancocas Creek, in southwestern New Jersey. The discovery has led to speculation that the object could be the Alligator Jr., a civil war-era submarine that’s been missing since 1861. The Alligator Jr. was made of iron, and was built in 1859 by French inventor Brutus de Villeroi. The reason for thinking this is the fabled submarine? The location of the object matches the research of local historian Alice Smith, who believes the sub was either abandoned or sank in the creek.

LEARN MORE

Wing Teams Up with Serve Robotics to Expand Food Delivery

If you watched John Mulaney’s live Netflix show Everybody’s In LA, you’ll remember the Serve robot Saymo that was featured on several episodes. Serve robots are made to deliver food, and can carry up to 50 pounds for 25 miles. Wing recently announced a pilot partnership with Serve, which will expand the range for Serve’s deliveries and make it possible for restaurants to load robotic deliveries without having to install drone pickup equipment. Shown in the video above, the idea is simple—you load food into a Serve robot, the robot brings the food to a drone pickup station, and then the drone makes the final leg of the delivery. The pilot program will start in Dallas some time in the next few months.

LEARN MORE

Make sure to sign up for our free weekly newsletter using the button below so you can get our weekly newsletter every Saturday, with this roundup and our other featured stories from the week.