Parrot’s ANAFI USA: A Secure Drone Manufactured in the U.S.

Press

Rodney Murray Professional Services Consultant at Skyward

For some time, the commercial drone industry has seen an increasing demand for enterprise-grade drones manufactured in the United States. Whether due to concerns around security, privacy, or quality control, U.S.-made drones can alleviate some worries for drone pilots flying critical or sensitive missions.

That’s one reason Skyward partnered with Parrot to offer the ANAFI USA Drone and Training package. This package combines Parrot’s U.S.-manufactured ANAFI USA drone with Skyward’s automatic flight logging and expert training from experienced aviators.

Who is Parrot?

Parrot is a drone maker based in France. Parrot has been designing drones for years, focusing on packing advanced technology into small airframes. Their expertise in compact drones enabled them to create the ANAFI line of commercial-grade drones. These include:

ANAFI 4K – a small professional drone featuring a 4K imaging sensor
ANAFI Thermal – the same airframe with a two-sensor gimbal fusing a 4K camera and a radiometric thermal sensor from FLIR Systems
ANAFI USA – an updated airframe, made in the United States, featuring a three-sensor gimbal (FLIR thermal, 4K video, and zoom up to 32x)

Skyward Sync is available for all three models through Parrot’s FreeFlight 6 mobile app. ANAFI pilots can automatically log their flights to Skyward for operational accountability.

ANAFI USA is manufactured in the United States

Parrot partnered with NEOTech, an electronics manufacturing services provider for the aerospace and defense industry, to manufacture the ANAFI USA. The drone is assembled in a NEOTech facility in the Boston, Mass. area, aligning with Department of Defense criteria for manufacturing security.

Parrot’s ANAFI USA meets the U.S. Department of Defense’s performance and security standards

Not only is the ANAFI USA compact and capable, but it’s also highly secure. Parrot created one of just five drones accepted by the Defense Innovation Unit’s Blue sUAS program. This program developed secure, trusted, compact drones for the U.S. government. These drones had to meet a list of specific criteria, including dust and rain resistance (IP53), visible and infrared optics, and a flight endurance of at least 30 minutes — all in a package that weighs less than 3 pounds.

The ANAFI USA offers the same security, durability and imaging capabilities as Parrot’s Short-Range Reconnaissance drone designed for the U.S. Army. And beyond meeting the required criteria, Parrot included additional security and privacy features.

ANAFI USA offers enterprise-grade security and privacy

Parrot’s data encryption and privacy features are designed to meet the needs of commercial drone users. These include:

Control over drone data – no data is shared without consent. By default, flight data and logs are stored only on the user’s device. If users do want to use networked services, they can opt in to store data on secure servers in Europe via Parrot’s FreeFlight 6 app.
Encryption for data security – all photos and videos stored on the SD card are encrypted. This helps to protect sensitive data from being accessed without authorization.
Secure command and control – the drone and ground control station communicate over Wi-Fi signals secured with WPA-2 certification.
Firmware security – Parrot uses digital signature verification for all firmware updates, which is designed to prevent the installation of malicious code
GDPR compliance – data encryption and privacy features are compliant with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Third-party application security testing – Parrot consulted with Bishop Fox to provide a third-party security assessment of the FreeFlight 6 mobile app. The report confirmed Parrot’s alignment with its data privacy policy and security promises.