Paladin Launches Knighthawk: First Response Drone for Cities

The Criticality of Rapid Emergency Response

Effective emergency response demands speed. When incidents like fires or vehicle accidents occur, the time elapsed before assistance arrives can drastically impact outcomes. For police and fire departments, swiftly deploying personnel presents logistical hurdles, often complicated by traffic and inefficient routing.

Paladin, a Houston-based startup, is developing a specialized drone hardware and software solution designed to accelerate emergency response times and enhance situational awareness for cities. Following years of refinement, the company is now formally introducing its Knighthawk and Watchtower systems.

Introducing Knighthawk: A Dedicated Emergency Response Drone

The Knighthawk drone is engineered specifically to meet the unique requirements of emergency responders. It is equipped with dual cameras – a 10x optical zoom lens and a thermal imaging camera – to deliver high-quality video feeds of evolving situations, both during daylight and nighttime conditions, with minimal latency of just half a second.

The drone boasts a flight time of 55 minutes and the capability to travel several miles to reach an incident location, as stated by the company. Deployment can be initiated within seconds of receiving a 911 call.

Watchtower Software: Command and Control

Operators utilize Paladin’s Watchtower software, accessible as a mobile application, to manage the drones and view live video streams. By placing a marker on a map, they can direct the drone to the suspected emergency site.

Uploaded video feeds are displayed within the app and seamlessly integrated into existing computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems used by 911 centers – a topic previously explored in relation to RapidSOS EC-1.

From Prototype to Production

This public launch represents a significant milestone for Paladin, which was initially profiled by TechCrunch in 2019 after emerging from Y Combinator with $1.3 million in seed funding from investors including Khosla, Correlation Ventures, and Paul Buchheit.

Initially, the company focused on integrating software with commercially available DJI drones, experimenting with a beta Android app for map-based drone control.

However, this approach proved inadequate. According to CEO and co-founder Divy Shrivastava, the company recognized the necessity of controlling the entire hardware stack. “The drones we initially used weren’t designed for automated operation,” he explained. “We subsequently developed our own communication technology to ensure reliable connectivity.”

Real-World Impact and Regulatory Hurdles

Since its establishment in 2018, Paladin has assisted in responding to approximately 1,600 emergencies, based on internal data. The company has collaborated extensively with departments in Memorial Villages, Texas, and Orange Township, Ohio, handling several calls daily during designated hours.

This limited operational timeframe highlights a key challenge: regulatory compliance. The FAA enforces strict regulations regarding visual line of sight for drone operators. To achieve its vision of a fully integrated and readily deployable system, Paladin has diligently gathered data and submitted it to the FAA to obtain operating waivers.

These waivers fall under the “First Responder Tactical Beyond Visual Line of Sight” program and related exceptions. Paladin has successfully secured waivers for true beyond-line-of-sight operations in the two cities it currently serves, and Shrivastava believes the company has established a replicable process for onboarding new clients.

Simple Installation and Future Expansion

Installation is straightforward, Shrivastava notes. Drones can be stationed in various locations, even “a parking lot,” and are commonly based at police or fire stations. No specialized hardware, sensors, or infrastructure modifications are required for the drones to navigate and understand their surroundings.

Software integration with the 911 center’s CAD system is the primary requirement. With this public launch and accumulating evidence of success, the company is prioritizing sales growth. Shrivastava stated, “Our ultimate objective is for every fire, police, and first response agency to utilize our services.”

The team has grown to approximately eight members, although co-founder Trevor Pennypacker left the company in late 2019 and is now employed at Tesla.