9 Oct 2026
Drone News: DJI Neo 3 Leaks, Drone Show Record, $12M To Drone Test Sites, FBI Counter-Drone School
Welcome to your weekly UAS News Update, have four stories for you this week: DJI Neo 3 video leaks, Sky Elements sets Guinness record, the FAA hands out 12 million dollars to drone test sites, and the FBI doubles its counter drone school. Let's get to it.
First up, a 49-second unboxing video of the DJI Neo 3 Fly More Combo has leaked. DroneXL's Jasper Ellens posted it Tuesday. He says it first appeared on TikTok.This time, the drone comes out of the box. As you can see, it has spoked prop cages on all four propellers, a RC Mini controller with a screen, a charging hub, and three batteries. The drone also appears to have a small screen on its nose, but it’s unclear what it does yet. A production listing puts the weight at 192.7 grams. The RC Mini has FCC approval, while the rumored Neo 3 does not. It doesn’t look like we’ll get this one here in the US. Next up, Sky Elements has set two Guinness World Records in Blue Ridge, Texas. Working with Damoda America, they flew 71,207 drones during shows from September 27th through the 29th. The old record was 55,939.Six shows used more than 10,000 drones each, with the finale using 11,000. The company says that's the largest drone show ever flown in the US. Crews had to recharge, reset, and relaunch the fleet between shows, which I’m sure was a ton of work. The CEO says shows this big have mostly happened in Asia and the Middle East. Sky Elements now wants to sell these large shows to sports leagues, cities, and brands. Now to the FAA. On Monday, it announced $12 million for 19 drone research projects. Each project is paired with one of the nine FAA UAS test sites.The projects cover detect and avoid, command and control, traffic management, and drone identification. As always with these grants, the FAA wants real world data it can use in future rulemaking. This isn't new money. Congress ordered $6 million a year in the 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act. Companies awarded must also match the funding at least one to one. Word is that this data should inform is Part 108, the BVLOS rule thas sat at OIRA since July 10th. That's 87 days. An unnamed FAA official said last month it's at the 10-yard line and he hopes it publishes by year end. We’ll have to wait and see. Finally, the FBI is doubling its counter drone school. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward toured the National Counter-UAS Training Center in Huntsville, Alabama on October 1st, and stated capacity will more than double in year two. Woodward said that every host city for the World Cup attended and that over 700 drones were taken down. He also noted that none of the aircraft mitigated carried ordnance. If you’re unfamiliar, since July 1st, it's the only place a state or local officer can earn authority to take a drone down under the Safer Skies Act. When the rule published, only 61 officers nationwide held that certificate. The first class last October had just 12.Woodward didn't say the current capacity, so the doubling has no public baseline. The FBI plans to graduate 250 more officers next fiscal year.According to this information and other publicly available info, those 700 drones weren't threats. They were pilots who flew into restricted airspace without approval. It’s a good reminder to check for TFRs, every time.And the conversation continues on Post flight where we discuss these stories uncensored in the Premium Community, link is in the description. We'll see you for the live Q&A on Monday. Have a good weekend!Sourceshttps://dronexl.co/2026/10/06/dji-neo-3-unboxing-video-leak-battery-slots/https://dronedj.com/2026/10/05/drone-show-record-sky-elements/https://dronexl.co/2026/10/05/faa-12-million-drone-test-sites-part-108-unsigned/https://dronexl.co/2026/10/05/fbi-counter-drone-school-double-capacity-woodward/
