Global Spotlights
FAA Leaders Tell XPONENTIAL 2026: The Airspace Is Open, Now Comes the Hard Part
By: Dawn Zoldi The FAA took the stage at XPONENTIAL 2026 to signal a cultural shift. Franklin McIntosh, Chief Operating Officer of the FAA Air Traffic Organization, and Jessica Jones,...Read More
Tulip Tech Is Opening a U.S. Front With Battle-Tested Custom UAV Batteries, Doubling Flight Time in the Process
The Netherlands-based power solutions company has battle-tested its technology on the front lines of Europe. It is now bringing it to American drone manufacturers with a performance claim the industry...Read More
Fiber Optic FPV Drones Force Israel and U.S. Army to Rethink Soldier-Level Counter-UAS Solutions
By Arie Egozi, Autonomy Global — Ambassador for Israel Israel’s Ministry of Defense and Israeli defense industries are deep into an urgent effort to counter fiber optic-controlled FPV drones. This...Read More
Pentagon’s Top Industrial Base Official Delivers Unvarnished Assessment at XPONENTIAL 2026
By: Dawn Zoldi The U.S. defense industrial base is in crisis, according to the official charged with fixing it. The Honorable Michael Cadenazzi, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base...Read More
AUVSI’s Michael Robbins Opens XPONENTIAL 2026 With a Clear-Eyed Call to Build, Scale, Lead
Michael Robbins, President and CEO of AUVSI, delivered a keynote address titled Built to Lead. Driving Towards Impact to a record-setting crowd to kick off XPONENTIAL 2026 in Detroit. Progress...Read More
European Navy Expresses Interest in Elbit’s Seagull Autonomous USV
By Arie Egozi, Autonomy Global — Ambassador for Israel The escalating crisis in the Strait of Hormuz has sharply accelerated naval interest in autonomous surface and underwater systems. Israeli sources...Read More
Bridging Sky and Space: Viasat’s Velaris and the Future of BVLOS UAV Connectivity
By: Dawn Zoldi When a UAV crosses the threshold of visual line of sight, the pilot loses direct perception of the aircraft. A reliable, continuous data link that carries command-and-control...Read More
Firestorm Labs Secures $30M APFIT Award to Scale Expeditionary Manufacturing and Tempest UAS production for the Indo-Pacific
SAN DIEGO, Calif., May 7, 2026 Firestorm Labs today announced it has been selected for an award of up to $30 million through the Department of War’s Accelerate the Procurement...Read More
Airbility Signs Strategic MoU with Germany’s Schübeler on EDF Propulsion Technology for eVTOL Platforms
Airbility Inc. (“Airbility”), an advanced air mobility company based in the Republic of Korea, announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Schübeler GmbH (“Schübeler”) of Germany...Read More
Steadicopter’s Golden Eagle Emerges as Rotary UAV Mothership for Contested ISR and Precision Strike Missions
By Arie Egozi, Autonomy Global — Ambassador for Israel Israeli company Steadicopter has unveiled a mothership variant of its Golden Eagle rotary UAV It engineered the platform to serve as...Read More