Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
PALM BEACH, Fla. , March 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FN Media Group News Commentary – Shifting governmental policies are benefiting U.S. Drone Manufactures. AUVSI, an industry insider reported: “Programs focused on U.S.-made drone acquisition incentives, specifically grants, would signal to investors the market opportunity for U.S. drones, stimulating investment into U.S. drone and component manufacturing. According to a 2019 survey by Droneresponders, 92% of first responders in the U.S. are using drones made by China. This is a direct consequence of China subsidizing the drones, driving down costs, and a program to donate DJI drones to first responders. The Droneresponders survey also noted that 88% of first responder agencies would prefer to use U.S. drones; however, cost is a major factor in being able to transition away from the subsidized Chinese drones to market-based U.S. drones. U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) programs that enable the use of drones for infrastructure inspection, such as the Every Day Counts (EDC) program, should incentivize the use of U.S. manufactured drones. It said that Congress should enact a new program designed to help industrial inspection companies engaged in critical infrastructure inspection transition from using Chinese drones to U.S.-made programs, which could reflect, in part, the Supply Chain Reimbursement Program as mentioned above for first responders.” Active Companies in the drone industry today include ZenaTech, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZENA), Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCAT), AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc. (NYSE: UAVS), L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX), Unusual Machines (NYSE: UMAC).
AUVSI continued: “Again, the program should be funded appropriately to ensure that critical infrastructure owners and operators can begin to replace and upgrade drone fleets and U.S. domestic drone manufacturing can meet demand in terms of both production capability and drone reliability and capability. The DoD must work with industry to overcome the acquisition challenges to get capable tools into the hands of warfighters faster, ensuring a strong U.S. industry for defense and commercial missions. The U.S. is falling behind other nations in the global effort to safely and efficiently integrate drones – which perform many lifesaving and critical industrial missions – into the airspace. Accordingly, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) must take steps to streamline approval processes and minimize the bureaucratic barriers to successful integration. Congress can assist by giving the FAA additional tools, authorities, and resources to accomplish this mission. Such tools should include mechanisms to help the FAA implement 2023 FAA Reauthorization efforts/mandates. Making progress on drone operational integration will spur investment into the drone industry, including manufacturing and workforce development in the United States.”
ZenaTech (NASDAQ:ZENA) ZenaDrone Benefits from New Chinese Tariffs Also Helping its Commercial and Defense Customer Markets – ZenaTech, Inc. (FSE: 49Q) (BMV: ZENA) (“ZenaTech”), a technology company specializing in AI (Artificial Intelligence) drones, Drone as a Service (DaaS), enterprise SaaS and Quantum Computing solutions, today announces an update on its US-based ZenaDrone subsidiary’s Arizona and Taiwan manufacturing supply chain strategy in light of the current economic changes and tariffs announced by the current US Administration. ZenaDrone will continue to source and manufacture drone cameras, sensors and other related components at its Taiwan-based Spider Vision Sensors company to reduce its supply chain risk and ensure NDAA-compliant parts for its US Defense-destined drone products, which will be manufactured in Arizona. The company also benefits from recent announcements doubling tariffs on Chinese imports including drones and parts from 10% to 20% which will negatively impact many US drone companies and customers given the drone industry dominance of China.
“The current administration’s focus on strengthening US manufacturing and reducing reliance on Chinese drone imports is a game-changer for American companies like ours. With increased tariffs on Chinese drones and components, and new incentives for domestic production, we are well positioned to expand our operations to manufacture in Arizona, also creating more high-quality American jobs. Since we’ve already initiated sourcing of our component parts from Taiwan instead of China, we can avoid supply chain disruptions while benefiting from potential US manufacturing tax breaks. We believe this makes our drones more competitive for both government and commercial markets,” said CEO Shaun Passley, Ph.D.
“This also puts us ahead of domestic competitors who may be facing challenges with supply chain instability and less access to cutting-edge technologies. By leveraging Taiwan’s capabilities and our focus on security and compliance, we’re poised to meet increasing defense demand while minimizing operational risks,” added Dr. Passley.
The Spider Vision Sensors Taiwan office opened in November 2024 to manufacture drone cameras, sensors, electronics, and components, including LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), thermal, infrared, and multi-spectral sensors, and circuit boards to incorporate into ZenaDrone’s finished products. Having in-house manufactured sensors and components will enable ZenaDrone to maintain a steady supply to fulfill customer drone order needs at its Sharjah, UAE manufacturing facilities as well as its future Arizona-based drone manufacturing facilities for US military-destined “Made in America” drones.
Taiwan was selected due to its size and skills as an electronics hub, and the availability of low-cost alternative components versus those from China. Spider Vision Sensors will ensure ZenaDrone’s products and supply chain are compliant with the US NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) requirements necessary to do business with the US Military. This along with the Green UAS (Uncrewed Arial System) and the Blue UAS are important certifications ensuring cybersecurity and country of origin compliance for drone companies, which the company has stated it plans to achieve. Continued… Read this full release by visiting: https://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-zena/
Other recent developments in the drone industry include:
Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCAT), a drone technology company integrating robotic hardware and software for military, government, and commercial operations, recently announced that its Black Widow drone and FlightWave Edge 130 were included on the list of 23 platforms and 14 unique components and capabilities selected as winners of the Blue UAS Refresh. The platforms will undergo National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) verification and cyber security review with the ultimate goal of joining the Blue UAS List.
Over the coming months, the Blue UAS List and Blue UAS Framework will expand with new additions. The inclusion of the Black Widow and Edge 130 as winners of the Refresh further validates Red Cat’s commitment to delivering NDAA-compliant unmanned systems for defense and government applications.
AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc. (NYSE: UAVS), recently announced it has fulfilled the previously announced order for 60 RedEdge-P Multispectral Sensors from an East Asian value-added reseller (VAR).
AgEagle CEO Bill Irby commented, “Following the successful on-time completion of this, our largest sensor sale in AgEagle history, we look forward to building on this significant momentum. The achievement underscores our commitment to impeccable execution and reliability and further represents a landmark milestone in our strategic growth plan for 2025 and beyond. We look forward to continuing to enhance and scale our high-value intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance product offerings to military and commercial operations worldwide to effectively position AgEagle for long-term shareholder value creation.”
RedEdge-P Multispectral Sensors are NDAA compliant, high-resolution multispectral and RGB sensor featuring a high-resolution panchromatic band for pan-sharpened output resolutions of 2 cm / 0.8 in at 60 m / 200 ft. Its five narrow multispectral bands with scientific-grade filters make it the perfect camera for calculating multiple vegetation indices and composites.
L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) and Shield AI will collaborate on a demonstration to enable an electronic warfare (EW) operation with AI-enabled unmanned systems that will sense, adapt and act while simultaneously executing physical and electromagnetic movements.
L3Harris and Shield AI Team for Breakthrough in Autonomy – At the core of this effort is L3Harris’ Distributed Spectrum Collaboration and Operations, or DiSCO™, a software-defined Electromagnetic Battle Management ecosystem that can detect, collect and analyze known and unknown threat signals within minutes. This specific collaboration pairs DiSCO with Shield AI’s Hivemind.
Unusual Machines (NYSE: UMAC), a leading provider of NDAA-compliant drone components, has recently secured Red Cat Holdings as a customer for motors. This marks the company’s first partnership to develop motors built to a U.S. drone producer’s specific requirements. Red Cat will use three motor variants from Unusual Machines for one of its platforms designed for government and commercial applications.
Red Cat has placed its initial order, marking a significant milestone in Unusual Machines’ efforts to become a Tier 1 supplier of drone motors for American manufacturers. The motors will be among the first produced in Unusual Machines’ U.S.-based manufacturing facility, which is currently under development. In the interim, production will take place in a partnered facility that we believe will result in a seamless supply chain transition. Unusual Machines expects to begin delivering on Red Cat’s first order by the end of March.
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