For better or worse, the drone marketplace is dominated these days by one brand. The Chinese-based company DJI has done such an amazing job designing drones of all sizes and levels that the company has become synonymous with drone technology.
However, DJI has been facing some major hurdles with potential drone bans in the United States and now tariffs and restrictions are keeping its latest offerings out of the US market entirely. While these issues and concerns are being sorted out (who knows where they’ll eventually end up), the market is certainly primed for competitors, especially American-based companies, to step up.
Based in Montana, the American drone company Skyfish has officially released its new enterprise drone called the Osprey to challenge DJI’s market dominance in this space. Let’s look at this enterprise offering, what it can do, and what we might expect to see from Skyfish (or other companies) in the future.
Introducing the Skyfish Osprey
Credit: Skyfish
In marketing materials for the Osprey, Skyfish very directly acknowledges that the goal of this enterprise lens is to challenge DJI’s dominance in the enterprise space. The Osprey promises to be lightweight and compact, yet still pack a powerful punch in terms of flight time, radio range, and autonomous flying features.
“The Osprey was originally designed as an American-made replacement for the DJI Matrice 30 or M300. But Osprey turned out to be an even better drone than the DJI equivalent.” — Skyfish CEO Dr. Orest Pilskalns.
The Skyfish Osprey features a Sony-designed 61MP LR1 camera that is capable of high-resolution photogrammetry and 3D digital twin creation. It also features an X90 zoom as well as a NextVision Raptor EO/IR sensor and thermal imaging capabilities.
What Does the Future Hold for Skyfish?
Credit: Skyfish
While this new Skyfish Osprey is certainly a powerful and exciting new drone option, it’s of course an enterprise product for landscapes and infrastructure purposes. It’s not a camera drone for cinematography and videography.
However, as Skyfish evolves, and other companies pop up, with DJI’s future in the United States still in peril, it would make sense that companies would be pushing hard to release some high-quality aerial drones that could bring more diversity and challengers to the market.
We’ll keep you up-to-date as to what other new companies and products might eventually be released and be set to fly in the skies in the United States here soon.
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