A new book shedding light on the top-secret life of a drone pilot in the US military is being turned into a film financed by Hollywood director Michael Bay. Drone Warrior: An Elite Soldier's Inside Account of the Hunt for America's Most Dangerous Enemies is a book following the nearly decade-long career of Brett Velicovich, a drone pilot with America's most elite military unit, Delta Force. Co-written by Pulitzer Prize winning former Wall Street Journal author Christopher S Stewart, the book charts Velicovich's career as he traveled across the world hunting down some of the United States' most wanted terrorists. Brett Velicovich, a former drone pilot with America's most elite military unit, Delta Force, has released a book detailing his time with the force Co-written by Pulitzer Prize winning former Wall Street Journal author Christopher S Stewart, the book charts Velicovich's career The book tells stories of Velicovich's time traveling the world and hunting down some of the United States' most wanted terrorists. He's pictured above with Somali forces in Burundi Featuring missions in Somalia, Burundi, Afghanistan and more, Drone Warrior pulls no punches in its portrayal of modern-day warfare, with Velicovich being particularly candid in his assessment of US military operations.

Before the meeting, roughly three dozen activists from various groups -- including the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, Black Lives Matter and Los Angeles Community Action Network -- stood outside the LAPD's downtown headquarters, denouncing the use of drones by police. The Police Commission should "completely reject LAPD's latest attempt to revive its drone program," said Hamid Khan, founder of the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, an anti-surveillance group that frequently criticizes the LAPD. Earlier this year, L.A. County Sheriff Jim McDonnell announced his agency's plans to use a $10,000 drone to help deputies responding to arson scenes, suspected bombs and hostage situations. On July 27, the majority of the Civilian Oversight Commission also expressed their desire for McDonnell to stop flying the drone, citing concerns over surveillance and safety.

An Iranian drone nearly collided with a U.S. Navy F-18 Super Hornet while the American jet was in a holding pattern, a U.S. defense official told Fox News. The jet was about to land aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, which recently arrived in the Persian Gulf. It was the first time an Iranian drone has "interrupted a flight pattern," the official said. The F-18 "maneuvered to avoid collision," said the official, who described the unarmed Iranian drone as a Qom-1. The official described the encounter as "unsafe and unprofessional…and dangerous."

Could this be the'Baywatch' of the future? A cutting-edge lifesaving initiative - the rescue drone - is taking flight again this summer off France's popular Atlantic beaches. Following a successful launch in 2016, three airborne life-saver drones are being operated in the southwestern Nouvelle-Aquitaine region until September to help swimmers struggling in choppy water. A cutting-edge lifesaving initiative - the rescue drone - is taking flight again this summer off France's popular Atlantic beaches Following a successful launch in 2016, three airborne life-saver drones are being operated in the southwestern Nouvelle-Aquitaine region until September to help swimmers struggling in choppy water. At 80 kilometres an hour (50mph), the 3.9 kilogram (8.6 lbs) drone buzzes to the danger spot four minutes faster than a lifeguard and is programmed to neatly drop a life buoy to the water.

The Pentagon has sent new guidance to the armed services that lays out the military's authority to disable or shoot down any drone that violates airspace restrictions over a U.S. base and is deemed a security risk. The Pentagon has sent new guidance to the armed services that lays out the military's authority to disable or shoot down any drone that violates airspace restrictions over a U.S. base and is deemed a security risk. Jeff Davis told Pentagon reporters Monday that a classified policy was approved in July. On Friday, additional public information was sent to military bases around the country so officials can alert their communities about the restrictions and the actions the military can take. He said the new policy provides details about the actions the military can take to stop any threat, including destroying or seizing any unmanned aircraft -- including the smaller ones that the general public can easily buy -- that is flown over a base.

The US Army has increasingly used small consumer drones in the field, purchasing them as needed from consumer manufacturers like the well-known Chinese maker DJI. But documents indicate that the Army Aviation Directorate is now enforcing new orders, banning DJI drones "due to increased awareness of cyber vulnerabilities associated with DJI products." The documents, first obtained by Small UAS News, don't explain the Army's security concern, but refer to classified studies about DJI drones that first went out at the end of May. Previously, hackers have been able to jailbreak some DJI drones to control and modify things like safety features on the devices. Some reports have also indicated that DJI can gather location, audio, and even visual data from user flights. It's unclear what data DJI can access without customer consent, but location and media data from an Army drone could potentially reveal extensive information about US military operations.

The increase of commercial and private drones in the U.S. has raised our concerns with regards to safety and security of our installations,

Amazon believes drones are the future of parcel deliveries. But before the company can roll out drone deliveries on a large-scale, it has some major technical challenges to overcome. A key problem is how to keep drones in the air for a long as possible, while keeping them maintained and fully charged. A new patent by Amazon claims to provide a solution; a mobile fleet of drones workstations based on boats, vans and trains. These workstations could repair drones while they are being sent - along with their packages - to areas of high demand.

A quick, hassle-free way to stay on top of robotics news, our robotics digest is released on the first Monday of every month. Sign up to get it in your inbox. From wacky talking Einsteins to clumsy security'bots, from speedy drones to the underwater operations at Fukushima, it's been another busy month. So let's kick off our July review with a look at robots in action! You'd be forgiven for missing this first one.

Every industry is inching towards automation and the insurance industry is no exception. According to a white paper titled "2017 Future of Claims Study" published by the legal research firm Lexis Nexis, insurance claims are being increasingly processed using drones, artificial intelligence and app-based interfaces as opposed to sending field agents to examine such claims. The study was conducted using a sample size of 24 insurance executives and their opinions on automation in insurance. The push towards automation is largely driven by customers' need for faster and more convenient processing of claims. " While there hasn't yet been a complete shift to Virtual Claims handling, carriers who want to remain competitive will need to make the move to virtual and consider touchless processing if customer preferences are any indication," the study says.