Oak Ridge National Laboratory to Use AgEagle’s eBee Drones

UT-Battelle, operator and manager of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has purchased for ORNL a fleet of AgEagle Aerial Systems’ eBee X and eBee TAC drones, both government-approved unmanned aerial vehicles. 

ORNL’s Autonomous Systems group uses drones to improve its data collection for environmental and national security research in remote places. The eBee X is the only drone certified under the Federal Aviation Administration’s Operations Over People protocol without the need for a U.S. waiver, AgEagle said.

The eBee TAC drone bears the Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit approval under the Blue UAS Cleared List program, which currently includes four other UAS platforms offering options for evolving mission requirements. Certified as safe to fly, the DIU-listed drones are also cybersecurity-validated, AgEagle noted. 

Grant Begley, AgEagle’s interim CEO, said the DOE’s eBee X and eBee TAC procurement highlights government recognition of the drones’ value in research, security and emergency uses.

Formerly known as senseFly, AgEagle launched the fixed-wing, highly portable eBee TAC in 2021. In October 2023, AgEagle’s drones won certification under European Union regulations, enabling their users to launch Beyond Visual Line of Sight missions throughout Europe.