This week in Drone News. Rumors of a Parrot Anafi Thermal rugged version. A DJI Mavic Pro was shot in the air by a riffle and survived the encounter. An update on the 2018 alleged Gatwick Drone incident. And finally, a drone helps rescue a father and daughter from drowning. 

Timeline

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- Cinematic FPV Drone From Scratch: build your own cinematic machine with this course. https://bit.ly/37oOfeG

Anafi Thermal Rumors

Images surfaced on DroneXL this week of a rugged version of the Parrot Anafi Thermal drone. 

The current model is popular with first responders so an outdoor tactical version would make sense. 

It shows larger motors with serrated blades, a built-in bright screen.

It is equipped with a triple camera setup with a FLIR thermal cam and a 32x optical zoom. 

Parrot, a french company, is expected to build the drone in the US and will not include any Chinese-made part. 

Mavic Pro shot

Instagram user @vandy007 posted images of his Mavic Pro after it was shot at with a rifle. 

The user reported that he was flying close to 400 feet and adjusting the settings on his camera and he heard a shot. 

He didn’t think anything of it and just landed only to see the damage.  

The damage was mostly to the battery but it’s amazing that the drone survived. 

Yes, it is a federal crime to shoot at an aircraft, including a drone… 

Update on the Gatwick incident

Remember the Gatwick alleged drone incident in 2018? 

A couple had been falsely arrested in conjunction with the alleged incident. 

Their house was assaulted by police and they were held for 36 hours in December 2018. 

They sued and just settled $250,000 

There was never any confirmed drone sighting and with hundreds of journalists and government official, no proof has been provided to date. 

Gatwick did however spend $6 million to install Anti-UAV Defense system. 

Over a $1 million has been spent investigating the supposed incident. 

Drone helps father/daughter in the river

A drone was used to locate a father and his daughter whose canoe had capsized in the San Joaquin River in California. 

The drone followed a citizen who rescued the daughter and brought her back to land. 

The drone helped the fire department located the father who had stayed behind. 

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rick-smith-298376199_antiochpd-apd-uas-activity-6677326574427238400-s4Oh/