Drone News: DJI Neo 2 Release And Avata 360 Leak, Syracuse Police Drone Program Grounded, & New U.S. Spray Drone

Photo credit: Pilot Institute

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Welcome to your weekly UAS news update. We have three stories for you this week. DJI has a bunch of releases and rumors. We have the Syracuse Police Department program that’s having a bunch of issues. And then a new spray drone that is made by an American company. Let’s get to it.

DJI Neo 2 Launches in Europe, Canada, and Brazil

First up this week, the Neo 2 from DJI has been released in Europe, Canada, and Brazil. The Neo 2 is a massive upgrade from the original one. It moves from a single-axis to a dual-axis mechanical gimbal for much smoother footage and then also it has 4K videos at 60 frames per second now, double the original, and then it even supports 4K at 100 frames per second for slow motion.

But the biggest upgrade to me in my opinion is the addition of the comprehensive obstacle avoidance which was completely missing from the original Neo. All of this comes in a package that’s 151 grams (5.3 ounces), which is well under the 250-gram (8.8-ounce) registration threshold for recreational pilots in the United States.

And yes, the Neo 2 does have FCC certification approval. That happened back in July. So, it’s technically legally cleared for sale here in the United States, but it will not be available directly through the DJI store.

DJI Avata 360 Leak Suggests Multi-Purpose FPV Drone

Next, it looks like DJI has another FPV drone in the works. Some leaked promotional pictures have surfaced from what looks like it’s being called a DJI Avata 360. The images suggest that it’s a multi-purpose FPV drone that can capture 8K 360-degree videos. Where have we seen this recently? But also it can be flown like a traditional FPV drone with the camera being face forward.

It also appears that it has four different sensors in the front including both a visual camera and a LiDAR plus some side sensors. So that would suggest potentially omnidirectional sensing and advanced tracking capabilities, which is kind of a big deal for an FPV style drone. Now, the picture also shows that it’s being flown using the DJI Goggles N3 and the DJI RC Motion 3 remote, which makes us think that maybe it runs on OcuSync 4.0.

According to the DJI rumors, the pricing of the drone—the drone only—would be around $1,200 with potential release before Christmas, although unlikely that it’s going to be sold directly by DJI in their store. Probably available on the gray market anywhere you find a good reseller. This drone would obviously be directly competing with the Insta360 Antigravity A1, but until we have both drones in hands, it’s going to be tough to determine which one is the clear winner, if there is one.

Syracuse Police Drone Program Grounded for Fourth Time

Next up, we are heading to Syracuse, New York. I mean, we’re not, but the city there has a drone as first responder program that has been grounded now four times this year. This is kind of a fascinating case study in when new surveillance technology kind of intersects with public trust.

A few years ago, the Common Council approved $250,000 for Axon drone hardware, but the program has kind of been stuck in limbo ever since due to battles over privacy and policy. Now, the problem started when the police department reportedly tried to bypass the city’s own surveillance technology review process. After public pushback, the program was subjected to a full review, which resulted in a number of public comments. They said over two-thirds of them actually were negative.

The situation got worse when the police department wanted to expand the drone’s proposed use from just having high-priority emergency calls—like active shooter situations for example—to any and all 911 calls including minor offenses like noise complaints and vandalism. One of the councilpersons said that the department justification sounded too much like carte blanche for really doing “you can use it whenever you want” type of program.

We’ve seen DFR programs popping really all over the country, but Syracuse is kind of a rare example of local government and citizens successfully pushing against—you know, to kind of slow down this whole process—to have more in-depth policies. It’s a reminder obviously that this technology has a lot of real benefits for public safety but also it has to be deployed with privacy protections and also by having community buy-in and I think that’s one of the biggest issues at play here.

New American Spray Drone by Ceres Air

And then last up this week we have a new American spray drone by a company that’s called Ceres Air. The C31 is a heavy lift—and I mean it heavy lift—aircraft that’s capable of lifting almost 400 pounds, 397 pounds. Carrying 40 gallons (151 liters) of liquid and also carrying 53 gallons (201 liters) of dry spread. That’s a maximum takeoff weight of 617 pounds (280 kilograms) and it has a 2.1-mile (3.4-kilometer) range.

Now, according to the data sheet, a single flight can spray or spread 20 acres (8 hectares). And then the battery charging takes only 10 minutes, which is also pretty impressive. The drone is also equipped with omnidirectional radar and LiDAR for obstacle avoidance and then as you can see from the videos—these were shared by one of our students Caroline from Green Farms For All—these drones are pretty darn big.

The C31 currently uses Chinese parts but the goal over the next two years is to transition to U.S.-made parts for having a fully U.S.-made drone. Pricing is not currently available but for those that are interested, deliveries are going to begin in January of 2026. So cool tech coming out of Vermont.

Join us later for Postflight. This is the premium community show where we share our uncensored opinion. But they’re not always suitable for YouTube. So we hope to see you there and if not we’ll see you next week and have a great weekend.