America’s new 911 drone is always ready
America's New 911 Drone Is Always Ready
story_3983 | robotics beat | Samantha reporting
Drones responding to 911 calls are no longer experimental. Across the United States, police departments are already using Drone as First Responder programs to get eyes on emergencies faster than patrol units. In many cities, drones arrive in under two minutes. But the tech still has friction — drones need to stop and recharge, coverage areas are limited, and connectivity can fail at the worst moments.
BRINC's new Guardian drone, announced this week alongside a new Seattle factory that more than doubles the company's production capacity, is built to fix those exact problems. And its most significant innovation may not be the airframe — it's the connectivity.
The battery swap breakthrough
After responding to a call, many current DFR drones sit idle for 20 to 25 minutes to recharge. Guardian lands at its docking station, swaps batteries automatically, reloads what it needs, and goes right back into the air — no human required. BRINC says this enables up to 95% operational uptime. For comparison: many current systems operate at less than half that. That alone could change how often a drone is actually available when an emergency happens.
Starlink as the backbone
One of the biggest constraints in today's DFR systems is connectivity. Most drones rely on cellular networks, which weaken or fail in disasters, rural areas, or during major incidents when networks are overloaded. Guardian integrates a built-in Starlink connection — meaning it can maintain a data link almost anywhere, including disaster zones where traditional infrastructure isn't reliable.
This is a meaningful differentiator for departments outside major cities, where cellular coverage has always been the limiting factor on DFR adoption.
Range has also held DFR programs back. Many systems operate within roughly a three-mile radius. Guardian pushes that to about eight miles, flies at speeds up to 60 miles per hour, and can stay aloft for more than an hour. That combination — longer range, longer endurance, and satellite connectivity — means fewer launch sites are needed to cover a city, which is a direct cost argument for cash-strapped municipal budgets.
From camera to responder
Most DFR drones today are used for situational awareness: they stream live video so dispatchers and officers can assess a scene before arriving. Guardian goes further. It can carry and deliver life-saving equipment — defibrillators, Narcan for overdoses, flotation devices for water rescues — and can automatically select which payload to carry based on the type of 911 call.
That shifts the drone's role from observer to participant. Through a partnership with Motorola Solutions, Guardian integrates into dispatch platforms. AI can scan incoming 911 calls for keywords like "heart attack" or "allergic reaction" and suggest whether to deploy a drone and what it should carry. Officers in distress can trigger a drone launch themselves.
The imaging suite reinforces the shift: 4K video, up to 640x zoom, dual HD thermal cameras, a spotlight louder than a police siren, a laser rangefinder, and a speaker system. Responders can identify details from over 1,000 feet away and see clearly in complete darkness.
Guardian is also designed to track moving suspects, including vehicles — raising the prospect of fewer high-speed chases and more aerial following. It's not a helicopter replacement, but the overlap with helicopter roles is growing.
The manufacturing bet
Guardian will be manufactured at BRINC's new Seattle facility, which more than doubles the company's production footprint. Blake Resnick, who founded the company at 17 after cold-calling the Las Vegas SWAT commander to understand what first responders actually needed, has built BRINC into the largest U.S.-focused manufacturer of drones for police and fire agencies, with over 900 agencies now using its systems across all 50 states. Investors include Sam Altman, Index Ventures, Motorola Solutions, and Elad Gil.
The timing of the factory expansion is deliberate. BRINC more than tripled its revenue in 2025 and quintupled its monthly production capacity. The company is betting that DFR programs go from niche to standard — and that departments will pay a premium for hardware that's fully designed, manufactured, and supported in the United States, with NDAA-compliant supply chains.
Whether that vision holds depends on whether the uptime and connectivity claims hold up in real deployments. The specs are compelling. The question is whether the field performance matches the announcement.
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