Last month, professionals from across the commercial UAS industry came together for the annual Commercial UAV Expo. This year’s event was back in Las Vegas, Nevada, and came at a time that represents a critical moment for the industry, particularly here in the U.S. The FAA is getting closer to finalizing Part 108, which comes with as many questions as it does promise. The FCC is cracking down on foreign-made drones and components, hoping to build up the domestic manufacturing market, doing so also makes things significantly more difficult for operators. Technology continues to advance which creates new possibilities for existing verticals and also enables entirely new applications.
With all of this happening at once, it’s no surprise that, by the numbers, this was the largest turnout in the 12-year history of our event. Overall, 3,800 verified professionals attended this year’s Expo, with attendees representing all 50 U.S. states and 65 countries. Attendees had access to three full days of conference programming, including content from Pilot Institute and DRONERESPONDERS, the event’s two partners. Additionally, this year’s exhibit hall floor featured more than 250 exhibiting companies, another record for the event. While it’s hard to sum up all of the activity within a single space, we try our best below.
Keynotes Feature Industry Insights and Regulatory Leaders
This year’s Commercial UAV Expo included two keynote sessions on the event’s bookend days. The opening-day keynote focused on the state of the industry, as told by professionals in the sector. Earlier this year, our team at Commercial UAV News partnered with Pilot Institute on a State of the Industry survey, seeking insights from professionals at every level of the org chart and representation across verticals on the biggest issues facing the space today. During the keynote, we presented a snapshot of those findings and welcomed Pilot Institute’s co-founder, Greg Reverdiau, to the stage to talk through the findings and other key industry updates.
Survey respondents most often, by an overwhelming margin, commented on the FCC’s decision to add foreign-made drones and components to its Covered List. Even though the survey was held before its more recent proposal around “military-grade” drones, the responses indicated the decision has caused significant pain for professionals, particularly those in smaller firms. The keynote touched on specifics of these findings, including cost concerns while the domestic manufacturing base is being built up, but also highlighted optimism among respondents about the industry as a whole.
At the end of the keynote session, DRONERESPONDERS announced the recipient of their annual Eric Talley Memorial Award. This year’s award, which “honors individuals and teams who advance the responsible use of UAS across public safety,” went to Greg Whiting from the Texas Military Department’s Technology Integration Cell.
On day three, the final day of the event kicked off with a keynote featuring a discussion between the FAA’s Rob Reckert and EASA’s Daan Dousi, moderated by Avtrain’s Julie Garland. The discussion focused on how each region is thinking about low-altitude airspace regulations moving forward, and what work is needed to bring these regulations closer together. (See prior AG coverage of the FAA/EASA Keynote).
The U.S. and Europe are each handling the specifics of creating a safe airspace differently. On the FAA’s side, regulatory decisions are based on in-field testing and real-world data, which then shapes regulatory language and decisions. EASA, partly because it’s an agency made up of individual nations’ authorities, takes a more risk-based approach with its SORA methodology.
Despite the different approaches, the big takeaway from the conversation was that each agency is working toward the same goal. There is good reason to believe convergence will come with time, too. Both Reckert and Dousi pointed out multiple times that the FAA and EASA have a strong track record of collaboration and convergence with traditional crewed aircraft regulations. The UAS industry is, of course, much newer and has more complex questions to work out, but over time, the expectation is that a similar bridge can be crossed.
Procurement and Part 108 Dominate Conference Program
Elsewhere on the conference program, two of the most dominant topics of conversation involved the aforementioned FCC decisions and the upcoming Part 108 final rule. On the former, most conversations either touched on what the decisions mean from a legal perspective or what operators should be doing today to prepare for future procurement decisions. Understandably, there was no clear answer on the latter, but the exhibit hall showcased many companies with components that are either already compliant or have a pathway to compliance, reflecting the urgency with which the industry is treating this issue.
While many likely hoped the final Part 108 rule would be out by the time this year’s event came around, particularly since the Notice of Public Rulemaking was released more than a year earlier, that obviously wasn’t the case. Even so, much of the conference programming and the informal conversations focused on what will happen when the final rule does come out. (See prior AG coverage of the drone law panel at CommUAV).
Optimism about what this rule will do for the industry’s future and its ability to truly scale remained throughout the event, largely rooted in long-term visions. Many speakers throughout the conference noted the reality that many operators likely will not be able to take advantage of the new regulation in the short term. There will be a lead-up time for true implementation, both because operators will need to familiarize themselves with the rule itself and because some underlying technology will still need to develop further to support the influx of aircraft into the National Airspace System.
On the timeline for the final rule, though, FAA’s Reckert phrased it as being “on the 10-yard line,” and the agency hopes to have it published by the end of the calendar year.
The Value of In-Person Connection
Beyond those broader insights from the conference program and keynote stage, the biggest takeaway always comes back to the importance of in-person connections. Many of us in the industry spend most of our time networking behind a computer screen, whether it’s over email, on LinkedIn or maybe a MSTeams call. None of those options capture the energy and value of in-person conversations. Scheduled meetings and impromptu conversations with old and new connections, and social networking events like this year’s 6th Annual Flashmob Networking Happy Hour at Carnival Court, featuring Spandex Nation (an Autonomy Global event), create a buzz that carries through to your time back in the office. Above all else, that is what makes an event like Commercial UAV Expo special. The conversations this year on the floor, between sessions and throughout Vegas, will be the most memorable.
Back to Vegas in 2027
With this year’s event in the books, we are already looking ahead to next year, when we’ll be back at Caesars Forum in Las Vegas for Commercial UAV Expo 2027, from September 7-9. There will no doubt be important conversations next year, both around regulatory evolution and technological breakthroughs. I hope to see you there!