The Weekly Drone Roundup is a newsletter from the Center for the Study of the Drone. It covers news, commentary, analysis and technology from the drone world.

At the Center for the Study of the Drone

From April 11 to 15, the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons convened hundreds of delegates from member states and non-governmental organizations for its third annual meeting to debate lethal autonomous weapons. Here’s a summary of what was discussed and what wasn’t.

The Pennsylvania Air National Guard’s 111th Attack Squadron initiated drone operations at Horsham Air Guard Station near Philadelphia. The 111th, which formerly maintained a fleet of A-10 Thunderbolts, will operate a Combat Air Patrol of MQ-9 Reapers in overseas missions.

Drone company DJI launched a patent infringement lawsuit against Yuneec, another drone maker. The suit, which was filed in California, claims that Yuneec violated DJI patents for interchangeable mounting platforms and target tracking systems. The two China-based drone manufacturers develop small multirotor drones aimed at consumers and professional operators.

Drone startup Flirtey conducted the first successful delivery by an autonomous drone in a residential area. The company, which had received permission from the FAA to test the delivery system, carried out the flight in Nevada. “Conducting the first drone delivery in an urban setting is a major achievement, taking us closer to the day that drones make regular deliveries to your front doorstep,” Flirtey CEO Matt Sweeney said in an interview with the Associated Press.

The Centre for the Study of the Drone has released a new report on the state of the growing commercial drone industry.

A major U.S. airstrike in Somalia reportedly killed at least 150 al-Shabab fighters. The strike, which was carried out by manned and unmanned aircraft, targeted a compound 120 miles north of Mogadishu. According to a statement released by the Pentagon, the Shabab fighters were assembling for an attack on American and allied military installations in east Africa.

In October, the White House announced that it will deploy a Predator drone unit to Cameroon. We have obtained the first photographic evidence of this drone outpost, which was erected in the northern city of Garoua. Here’s a close look at what we found.

Registered drones now outnumber all registered manned aircraft in the U.S., FAA Administrator Michael Huerta has announced. The FAA, which implemented a compulsory registration program for drones last fall, has recorded over 325,000 registrations.

A U.S. MQ-1 Predator drone crashed in southern Turkey shortly after taking off from Incirlik Air Base. According to a statement from the 39th Comptroller Squadron, the cause of the crash was a mechanical failure.

Iranian state-run media released a video purporting to show an Iranian drone flying close to an American aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf.