Axon, a global public safety technology company, and Skydio, a U.S. drone manufacturer, announced the launch of an end-to-end offering for drones in public safety, including a scalable Drone as First Responder (DFR) solution. This partnership seeks to enhance the capabilities of public safety agencies across the country.

Drone as First Responder: A Game-Changer for Public Safety

Drone as First Responder (DFR) allows agencies to deploy remotely piloted drones to emergency calls, often arriving before ground units and providing real-time situational awareness to multiple stakeholders from a safe vantage point. The DFR solution can significantly improve incident response times, enable safer response strategies for officers and the community, and optimize resource allocation.

Drones in public safety can support various scenarios, including:

• Locating Suspects and Missing Persons: Enhanced aerial search capabilities improve the speed and efficiency of locating individuals.
• De-Risking Vehicle Stops: Providing an overhead view to assess potential risks before officers engage.
• Documenting Incident Scenes: High-resolution aerial imagery aids in accurate documentation and evidence collection.
• Collecting Evidence: Autonomous drones can quickly and safely gather critical information.

A successful DFR program can provide crucial information across an agency’s operation or joint task force, helping to de-escalate incidents and enhance community safety.

Expanding the Alliance: Integrating Cutting-Edge Technologies

This expanded alliance combines Skydio’s leading drone technology with Axon’s comprehensive suite of products for public safety, making the promise of DFR a reality for agencies nationwide. The offering includes:

• Skydio’s Autonomous Drones: U.S.-made drones with advanced autonomous flight capabilities.
• Onsite Docking Stations: Enabling rapid deployment and continuous operation.
• Integrated Flight Control Software: Seamlessly managing drone operations.
• Axon’s Real-Time Operations Capabilities: Real-time crime center (RTCC) functionalities and evidence management.
• Axon Air Powered by DroneSense: Comprehensive fleet and program management solutions.
• Dedrone’s Airspace Awareness and Deconfliction Technology: Enhancing BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) operations without the need for visual observers.

Enhancing accessibility to BVLOS operations will help scale the benefits of DFR to more communities and use cases and, in the future, will further enable applications beyond the public safety sector.

Leaders’ Perspectives

“Drones are the future of public safety. If we can provide first responders more time, more information and, effectively, more resources, we can drastically improve the way they protect our communities,” said Axon Founder and Chief Executive Officer Rick Smith. “Skydio is the best drone technology partner to support our customers to further realize the value of DFR and will be a key component to our ultimate goal of protecting more lives in more places, including those of our officers.”

“Skydio’s mission to make the world more productive and safe through autonomous flight is perfectly matched with Axon’s mission to protect life,” said Skydio Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Adam Bry. “This is an exciting time for drones in public safety, as their impact expands from smaller, specialized teams to fundamentally transforming the nature of first response. We couldn’t be more excited to deepen our partnership with Axon and bring to life our shared vision of making communities across the country, and around the world, safer.”