For this week’s round-up of commercial drone industry news, we look at counter-drone efforts around the 2026 World Cup, Europe’s plan to advance sustainability for commercial aviation and drone flights, and cooperation to ensure airport security in Belgium.

Grant Aimed at Drone Security for the 2026 World Cup

Police 1 reports that the White House Task Force, DRONERESPONDERS, and the Commercial Drone Alliance recently took part in in a counter-UAS event where a “$500M grant program aimed at helping communities combat illegal drone use” around the upcoming World Cup was announced. According to a press release, “The first $250 million will be awarded to areas hosting FIFA World Cup 2026, the Olympics and America 250 national events in the coming years, as well as to the National Capital Region,” and “the remaining money will be distributed in 2027 to “all states and territories with an expanded focus on building national detection and response capacity.” For the effort, the White House Task Force is working “with law enforcement, federal agencies, local and state governments, community organizations, and private entities to help ensure safety, security and hospitality at the World Cup events,” scheduled to take place next year in 11 host cities.

EU Works to Enable Sustainable Drone Flights and Other Aviation Operations

A press release from the RefMap Project explains how the European Union is using the newly launched RefMap Platform “to provide the aviation industry with the tools needed to go beyond the Paris Agreement, a key aim of the EU.” The effort, funded by Horizon Europe and supported by a consortium of leading EU research institutions, uses the RefMap Platform to integrate “real-time environmental modelling, AI-driven trajectory optimization, noise and air-quality analytics, and drone route assessments into a unified, multi-scale digital environment” to help “airlines, airports, drone operators and regulators” further environmental goals. Using the RefMap Platform, the press release explains, airlines and air traffic controllers “will be able to plan climate-optimal routes accounting for both CO₂ and non-CO₂ warming and different levels of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) while keeping operational cost increases manageable. Moreover, the platform “provides tools for airports seeking to reduce noise exposure and local air pollution, and for drone operators and route planners designing low-impact flight paths in complex urban settings.”

European Countries Partner on Airport Security in Belgium

In the wake of recent drone activity around airports and ports in Belgium, the UK, France, and Germany are “providing staff and equipment to help Belgium counter drone incursions around sensitive facilities.” As reported by Politico.eu, the cooperative effort comes after “airports in Brussels and Liège were forced to suspend flights last week after unidentified drones were spotted in their airspace, and other drones overflew the port of Antwerp.” Politico also stated that Belgium’s military bases have been targeted recently by mysterious drones.