Rebuilding America’s Defense Industry: Utah Gov. Tours Teal Drones HQ

Utah Gov. Tours Teal Drones HQ to Discuss State Support for Utah’s Defense Industry

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby

UAV ETFRed Cat Holdings [NASDAQ:RCAT]  is held in the AdvisorShares Drone Technology ETF [NYSE ARCA:UAV], the only ETF dedicated to the drone economy. For complete list of holdings click here.  The AdvisorShares Drone Technology ETF is a thematic investment strategy seeking to capture the growth opportunities in drones and autonomous vehicles (AV).  AdvisorShares is a DRONELIFE sponsor.

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Military technology company Red Cat Holdings has announced that Utah Gov. Spencer Cox toured the Salt Lake City HQ of its subsidiary, Teal Drones, on January 25th. The visit was organized in order to help educate the governor on the company’s operations and their national impact, as well as the opportunities and challenges facing industries in Utah.

“We discussed ways in which the state can support our efforts across regulation and deployments,” said Teal Founder and CEO George Matus. “The sky is literally the limit for Teal, and we’re grateful for the governor’s interest in aiding the growth of our company and Utah’s broader aerospace and defense sector.”

The tour involved meet-and-greets with a range of department heads, providing the governor with a wealth of information about engineering, testing, manufacturing, supply chain and compliance for Teal’s military-grade drone products.

“For far too long, we have ceded the building of drones to China and other places,” said Gov. Cox. “We are bringing that back and Utah is at the center of that. Teal is an incredible company that is making a difference with defense-focused drones.”

Teal Drones is “Blue UAS” certified, marking it as a select manufacturer with the authorization to provide the U.S. military with equipment. The company is additionally one of only three drone manufacturers invited to take part in the U.S. Army’s Short Range Reconnaissance Tranche 2 (SRR T2) program. The SRR T2 program aims to develop a portable small uncrewed aerial system (sUAS) to be deployed by army platoons to carry out surveillance and reconnaissance operations and grant enhanced situational awareness.

The governor’s visit was arranged by the recently formed Utah Aerospace and Defense Association (UADA), established in 2022 to address challenges related to innovation, entrepreneurship, workforce development and supply chains for aerospace and defense companies. UADA collaborates with the governor’s office, the Utah System of Higher Education, and industry leaders.

“Teal is deepening its relationship with UADA to help accelerate the rebuilding of America’s defense industrial base, specifically for drones,” said Matus. “UADA has expressed its support for our company and we look forward to a continued relationship with the association and the governor’s office.”

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Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer.

Wondering How to Break Into the Drone Industry? The Ultimate Drone Professional Guide

How to break into the drone industryThe Ultimate Drone Professional Guide” Tells Readers How to Break Into the Drone Industry

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby

Drone industry veteran Brian Pitre’s new e-book, “The Ultimate Drone Professional Guide,” sheds light on various aspects of the drone industry. An early adopter of commercial drone technology and the CEO of SkyOp, Pitre is the designer of one of the first comprehensive drone education platforms. His book is currently available on most popular digital book platforms, in print, and as a free online version.

Pitre has long been an advocate for drone technology, corporate integration of UAS systems, and expansion of career paths in the drone sector, and has worked alongside educational institutions, public safety organizations and businesses to develop drone programs that provide unique competitive advantages and prioritize program return-on-investment. His STEM curricula for secondary education and career training institutions are used by over 100 schools across the U.S. Pitre publishes regular articles as a member of the Forbes Technology Council, lending his insight and expertise on the commercial UAS sector.

“Drones are a truly transformative technology capable of changing just about every business model,” said Pitre. “When small consumer drones began to proliferate more than a decade ago, I was immediately struck by the innumerable commercial use cases for drone technology. For those outside the industry though, the transformative nature of drone technology is less transparent. With the Ultimate Drone Professional Guide, I’m hoping to give interested readers a look inside with insights on commercial applications, the amazing career paths that lay in front of commercial drone pilots, and a look at how drones will totally disrupt so many business models in the near future.”

The “Ultimate Drone Professional Guide,” grants insight into a wide range of topics surrounding the drone industry, including regulations, advice on securing pilot certifications, and the pathway to becoming a successful commercial drone pilot. The book further explores the universal issues facing the future of unmanned aerial vehicles, such as the evolution of urban air mobility, the necessity of drone-focused STEM education, as well as the drone sector as a career path.

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Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer.

Drones in Oil and Gas: American Robotics Reveals New Features
Drones in Oil and Gas: American Robotics Reveals New Features

drones oil and gasAmerican Robotics Reveals New Features for the Oil and Gas Industry

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M Crosby

Ondas Holdings [NASDAQ:ONDS] is one of the holdings in the AdvisorShares Drone Technology ETF [NYSE ARCA:UAV], the only ETF dedicated to the drone economy. The AdvisorShares Drone Technology ETF is a thematic investment strategy seeking to capture the growth opportunities in drones and autonomous vehicles (AV).  AdvisorShares is a DRONELIFE sponsor.

American Robotics has announced the addition of new capabilities to its autonomous Scout System drone to allow visual inspections of oil and gas facilities to be carried out autonomously.

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The newly added high-resolution RGB and thermal camera payloads, set for release in Q3 2022, will enable routine, high-value inspections of upstream and midstream oil and gas assets.

“The addition of these new features to the Scout System expands American Robotics’ competitive differentiation within the autonomous drone-in-a-box (DIB) market,” said American Robotics co-founder and CEO Reese Mozer. “Our oil and gas customers have worked closely with us to identify new features that allow them to transform operations, reduce costs, and increase safety by automating inspections so human operators do not have to be present on-site. This exciting advancement is an example of how American Robotics continues to grow its market-leading presence in the oil and gas sector.”

drones oil and gasThe Scout System’s new RGB and thermal camera features provide oil and gas customers with the ability to conduct regular inspections of assets like pumpjacks, heater treaters, tanks, flare stacks, pipes, pumps, and electrical infrastructure, while also cutting down on operating costs. The system’s improved imaging abilities will serve to assist in protecting the environment with recurrent, automated inspections, as well as expedite the digitization of physical assets via imaging and artificial intelligence in order to determine issues with critical infrastructure.

There are more than 900,000 oil & gas well pads and upwards of 500,000 miles of pipeline in just the United States, all of which requires regular inspection and monitoring. American Robotics anticipates a global TAM value of $22 billion for the drone-in-a-box market in the oil and gas sector. The company is set to experience revenue growth as a result of its improved features and ongoing business expansion, allowing it to further develop its competitive differentiation within the industry by joining its FAA approval for fully-automated BVLOS operations with oil and gas specific capabilities.

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Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer.

Swoop Aero, Skyports, BD Rowa Partner: Air Logistics in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Swoop Aero, Skyports, BD Rowa Partner: Air Logistics in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Swoop Aero in Namibia Swoop Aero SkyportsSwoop Aero, Skyports, BD Rowa Partner to Integrate Air Logistics in the Pharmaceutical Industry

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby

Today, drone service and technology leaders Swoop Aero and Skyports and pharmaceutical product provider BD Rowa announced the formation of a strategic partnership that aims to overhaul health supply chains across global markets by implementing autonomous air logistics into the pharmaceutical industry.  This collaboration will improve the health supply chain and system outcomes, resulting in major benefits for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries and their patients.

“There are so many touch points along the journey pharmaceutical products take from the point of manufacture to the point of patient care,” said Eric Peck, CEO and Co-founder of Swoop Aero. “Deploying technology at any one of these provides opportunities to improve healthcare system outcomes. By seamlessly integrating sustainable air logistics to deliver medical supplies, we have already seen significant improvements to access to medicine through our operations.”

“Next level thinking is to look outside your immediate field of focus, at what other leading providers are doing in the supply chain, and explore opportunities where collaboration can create more value,” Peck continued. “BD Rowa has a strong pedigree in developing automated storing and dispensing solutions for wholesalers, pharmacies, hospitals and patients. We are looking forward to working with them to augment the value they bring to health systems by integrating autonomous air logistics.”

Skyports views the healthcare and pharma sector as being full of opportunities for the application of drone logistics.

“We already know the power that drone logistics can bring to healthcare settings from our work with the NHS in the UK, transporting pathology samples and COVID-19 tests,” said Alex Brown, Director of Skyports Drone Services. “In just the UK to date, we have saved over 12,000 hours of patient waiting time, meaning that patients can start treatment sooner and get on with their lives. With this partnership with BD Rowa we’re bringing drone delivery to the pharmaceutical sector to provide speed, frequency and reliability to patients located in hard-to-reach communities across the UK, Europe and the Middle East. We look forward to rapidly expanding this service in collaboration with BD Rowa and Swoop Aero.”

BD Rowa, after recently expanding into the last mile delivery space, saw working with autonomous air logistics leaders as a clear next step.

“We were impressed with Swoop Aero’s technology and the impact they and Skyports were having deploying it in global markets in conjunction with major players in the healthcare industry,” said Mario Ulrich, Global Industry Leader Pharmaceutical Distribution Center, BD Rowa. “It was clear early on that we shared common ground. We are excited to bring this new technology and the specialist expertise of both Swoop Aero and Skyports to the table in our discussions with customers globally.”

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Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer.