Drone News: Avata 360 Launch Date & Resolution, SkyeBrowse Update, & Stolen Military Drones

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update. We have three stories for you this week. First off, DJI officially announces the uh AATA 360 launch date and then the 8K resolution as well. We have another Sky Brows update. And then finally, a $5,000 reward if you uh can figure out who stole some military drones. So, let's get to it. And first up this week, DJI has finally confirmed the launch of the highly anticipated IATA 360. I think I've heard 12 dates already for release in the last couple of months. But anyway, uh they dropped a short teaser video on March 10 with the tagline of above it all, see it all. And they didn't hold back on the details, which is kind of surprising. The subtitle clearly says that it's an 8K flagship 360 drone. And uh the official launch date is set for March 26, 2026, which is at 12:00 p. m. GMT. That's GMT, the general time. And then uh what really is interesting here I think is the DJI is kind of changing their marketing tactic a little bit. Usually we get like a blurry silhouette and then a countdown with just one week before the launch. Uh this time they're actually naming the product and the 8K resolution a full 16 days 2 weeks before the uh announcement. So that's kind of interesting. Now according to some reports the 360 will feature a brand new replaceable lens system. Uh that's a dedicated lens kit that reportedly will cost around $60 and include two replacement lenses uh and the necessary tool. Now, if you've ever flown a 360 drone before, uh we have long time ago when we kind of built one ourselves, uh you can easily scratch the lenses on landing. And so because the camera is at the bottom and at the top, so if you scratch the lenses on landing, you can just swap uh yourself using, you know, this for about $30, you know, each side. and then instead of sending the entire drone for repair. I think that's a huge win. It solves a big problem. Uh and then kind of interested to see how that's going to go for people. Now, we also have leaked battery specs. The new intelligent fly battery will reportedly cost around $80 and is packed with 38. 6Wh capacity. That's compared to the Evvada 2. It's um it's bigger. It has a 31. 8Wh battery that cost $115. So, more capacity, less money, everybody wins. The drone is also expected to pair with the DJI Goggle N3 and then hopefully also with the Goggles 3. Uh but there's a bit of a catch here for the average consumer. Looks like the Evvada 360 is reported at 400 g, which is uh well beyond, you know, the 250 g category. So, you're going to have to register the drone if you're flying recreationally or under part 107. And you'll have to comply with remote ID rules in order to fly legally here in the United States. Next up, Sky Brows has released another update. If you're not familiar, Skybr builds drone mapping software for public safety agencies using videogrometry and photoggramometry technology. The platform is currently used by over,200 public safety agencies worldwide for applications like accident reconstruction, crime scene investigation, and also disaster response. Now, the update here is to the flight app uh which is expanding the drone capabilities and improving the mission planning tools. Now, the update adds support for some popular drones like the uh Mini4 Pro, the Matrice 400, and then the Matrice 4 series along with some new high performance uh sensor payloads as well. They have the wide browse grid scanning workflow that also has been redesigned, introducing two different capture modes. the cross grid which is added for more scene details that's especially on low-rise structures and then the side scan for capturing the facade of buildings on vertical surfaces which is pretty cool. Also there's new features like live ETA display for pre-flight planning and then also previous flight tools that helps for reloading and then recompleting the same mission with identical settings. So good stuff from Sky Bros. Last up, kind of a weird story, but there's a $5,000 reward being offered for information leading to the arrest and the conviction of individuals who allegedly stole military drones for uh from Ford Campbell in Kentucky. According to the US Army, four Skyro X10D drone systems were taken. Now, if you're not familiar, the X10D is the defense and military variant from the X10 reportedly between November 21st and November 24th of 2025. This happened late last year. Unknown individuals unlawfully gained access to the building belonging to the 326th Division Engineering Battalion and they took the equipment. Uh the Army CD is actively investigating the incident and they're asking anyone with credible information to submit an anonymous tip. Uh this is one of those don't be that guy segment maybe. I guess uh you can see the pictures of course of the individuals here. So if you have information, go make a good $5,000 if you know who it is. All right, join us in the premium community for postflights where we share the opinion that are not always suitable for YouTube. Oh no, I'm just shaking my head at this

story. — They still had the security footage and it hadn't been erased yet. — That's true. November. And then we'll see you next week.