On Thursday, Utah-based Teal Drones was announced as one of only five companies approved to provide advanced, portable drones to the U.S. Department of Defense and other government entities. The Golden Eagle is a ruggedized, high-performance drone that can be carried in a rucksack and deployed in moments by frontline war fighters. | Teal Drones
Murray drone manufacturer 1 of 5 companies to get approval
MURRAY — A Utah-based specialty drone manufacturer is one of only five companies that made it to an exclusive group approved to provide compact high-tech remote vehicles to U.S. government entities, according to a U.S. Department of Defense announcement Thursday.
The news comes on the heels of a growing list of restrictions on Chinese-manufactured drones that began with the Army in 2017, moved to the entire Defense Department in 2018 and is now being considered for government-wide implementation under pending federal legislation titled the American Security Drone Act.
Those restrictions have led to opportunities for U.S. based and other manufacturers, including Teal Drones, a Murray-based company founded by George Matus when he was still a teenager.
And the selection could help Teal Drones secure new contracts worth tens of millions of dollars.
Teal’s Golden Eagle is a rugged, fast and portable advanced drone that was developed over the course of an 18-month innovation and testing contract with the Defense Department. Matus said six companies, including Teal, were awarded some $11 million collectively to design and complete a prototype that meets specifications as outlined by the Army program’s executive officer for aviation, in partnership with the Defense Innovation Unit.
Matus said Thursday he is thrilled with the news and hopes the announcement will also mark a turning point for domestic drone innovators that have been dominated by a single Chinese drone maker since the vehicles began to surge in popularity a decade ago.
“We all know that 2020 is going to be remembered for a lot of things, but I’m hoping one of them will be the resurgence of the American drone industry,” Matus said. “The industry has just been getting … pummeled with DJI taking over the market … and almost reducing the U.S. drone industrial base to zero.”
Steve Griffin
20190513 George Matus, founder of Teal Drones, flies one of his drones outside the company’s offices in Holladay on Monday, May 13, 2019. The company was announced as one of only five approved by the U.S. Department of Defense to provide drones to the military and other government agencies.
DJI, a Chinese company, has built up overwhelming control of domestic drone sales since launching in 2006, with recent data from trade group Drone Industry Insights indicating the company holds almost 80% of the U.S. market.
Matus noted concerns about secured data flow, and data privacy, have swirled around Chinese drone makers for years. Last year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued an alert that highlighted concerns about Chinese-made drones, but did not specify any manufacturers.
“The United States government has strong …read more
Source:: Deseret News – Utah News