ROBBRIEF
Flying Lion, a US drone services firm, says it will rent the overnight shift by pairing remote pilots with its management software for 24/7 Drone as First Responder operations.
Flying Lion, a US drone-services firm that already runs public-safety drone programs, says the binding constraint for round-the-clock aerial coverage is no longer the aircraft. It is the overnight pilot. The company this week launched a Remote Staffing Service for Drone-as-First-Responder operations, announced at the National Real Time Crime Center Association conference in Phoenix. DroneLife first reported the launch on August 26.
The service pairs remote pilots with Flying Lion's pilot-management software. Pilots are cross-trained across major drone platforms and can be scheduled or paged on demand. The company offers sworn officers and unsworn pilots, including current and recently retired law enforcement personnel; pilots can work inside an agency's own Real-Time Crime Center (the dispatch and camera hub) or operate remotely through Flying Lion.
The software handles dispatching, call disposition tracking, BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) airspace awareness, the FAA-style regulatory category that lets one pilot fly drones the operator cannot see, and end-of-day reports. Cross-jurisdictional and multi-agency operations are supported.
Flying Lion says it has logged more than 50,000 DFR flights since early 2025, and the new service sells labor, not aircraft. Founder and President Barry Brennan, per the announcement, is positioning remote staffing as the next procurement line for agencies that want true overnight coverage.
What remains unverified: pricing, named customers, and how BVLOS waivers will play out across jurisdictions.