Three Florida school districts have begun testing armed drones that can respond to gunfire within seconds. The Campus Guardian Angel system has received approval from Governor Ron DeSantis and could become a permanent part of school security as early as January 2026, TechSpot reports.
Each school will have six drones, housed in secure enclosures and controlled remotely from the company’s headquarters in Austin. They can fly at speeds of up to 50 mph indoors and 100 mph outdoors, allowing them to reach any point on campus in seconds. The drones will provide continuous video feed, helping law enforcement locate the attacker and assess the situation.
The devices are equipped with non-lethal weapons: pepper spray, disorientation agents, and glass cutters for rapid entry into classrooms. Operators will decide when to intervene, cooperating with tactical specialists and law enforcement officers.
Despite its potential benefits, the system has raised safety concerns. There are risks of technical failures, drones colliding with students or staff during rapid movements, and questions about the level of training of operators. Some experts fear that using drones in such situations could further complicate crisis response.
The system will be installed in schools in September-October 2025, and a full-fledged response service will be operational from January 2026. The developers note that more than 30–90 drones per campus can increase security, but the success of the technology will become clear only during practical use.
There have been nearly 1,000 gun incidents in US schools in the past three years, a tenfold increase from a decade ago. The new security measures come amid a crackdown on mobile phones, with Florida becoming the first state to ban the use of gadgets in classrooms, and 35 states now have similar rules.