Axon and Skydio partner to deliver scalable drone offering for public safety, including Drone as First Responder solution

Industry leaders join forces to bring technology and services to advance rapid incident response, augment resource allocation, and improve officer and community safety

SAN MATEO, Calif. and SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., June 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Axon (Nasdaq: AXON), the global public safety technology leader, and Skydio, the leading U.S. drone manufacturer and the world leader in autonomous flight, announced today the launch of an end-to-end offering for drones in public safety, including a scalable Drone as First Responder (DFR) solution.

Drone as First Responder 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. DFR has the ability to significantly improve incident response time, enable safer response strategies for officers and the community, and optimize resource allocation. Drones in public safety also support scenarios such as locating suspects and missing persons, de-risking vehicle stops, documenting incident scenes, and collecting evidence. A successful DFR program can provide critical information across an agency's operation or joint task force that can help de-escalate incidents and make the community safer. 

This expanded alliance brings together Skydio's leading drone technology with Axon's comprehensive suite of products for public safety, to make the promise of DFR a reality for agencies across the country. The offering includes U.S.-made autonomous drones, onsite docking stations, and integrated flight control software from Skydio; real-time operations, real-time crime center (RTCC) capabilities and evidence management from Axon, as well as fleet and program management through Axon Air Powered by DroneSense; and airspace awareness and deconfliction from Dedrone's innovative technology that enables DFR beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) without the need for visual observers. Enhancing accessibility to BVLOS operations will help to scale the benefits of DFR to more communities and use cases and, in the future, will further enable applications beyond the public safety sector. 

"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."

With this offering, public safety agencies now have everything they need to customize and scale drones and DFR programs seamlessly. While the full DFR offering is the ideal solution for most customers, the partnership enables the flexibility to support unique agency needs and operational requirements. Each component is available to integrate with a range of other hardware and software options to customize their drone program as needed.

For more information on the role drones and DFR can play in keeping cities safe, read Axon's latest blog post; to learn more about how Skydio is innovating in the DFR space, read Skydio's latest blog post. To get started with drone solutions and DFR, visit www.axon.com/contact/drones.  

About Skydio
Skydio is the leading U.S. drone manufacturer and world leader in autonomous flight. Skydio leverages breakthrough AI to create the world's most intelligent flying machines for use by enterprise and government customers. Founded in 2014, Skydio is made up of leading experts in AI, robotics, cameras, and electric vehicles from top companies, research labs, and universities from around the world. Skydio designs, assembles, and supports its products in the U.S. from its headquarters in San Mateo, CA, to offer the highest standards of supply chain, manufacturing, and data security. Skydio is trusted by leading enterprises across a wide range of industry sectors and is backed by top investors and strategic partners including Andreessen Horowitz, Levitate Capital, Next47, IVP, Playground, and NVIDIA. For more information, follow Skydio on LinkedIn or visit Skydio.com.

About Axon
Axon is the technology leader in global public safety. Our moonshot goal is to cut gun-related deaths between police and the public in the U.S. by 50% before 2033. Axon is building the public safety operating system of the future by integrating hardware devices and cloud software solutions that lead modern policing, defense, and security. The Axon ecosystem includes TASER energy devices, body-worn cameras, in-car cameras, cloud-hosted digital evidence management solutions, productivity software, real-time operations capabilities, and third-party integrations through Axon's partner network. Axon's growing global customer base includes first responders across international, federal, state and local law enforcement, fire, corrections, and emergency medical services, as well as the justice sector, commercial enterprises, and consumers.

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SOURCE Axon