One of the World’s Fastest-Growing Student Drone Competition Programs Expands with Robotics Education & Competition Foundation and Robolink Partnership

GREENVILLE, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 31, 2026--

As drones transform aviation, public safety, agriculture, infrastructure, environmental monitoring, and other industries, employers will need a workforce prepared to operate, program, maintain, and advance the technology.

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The Robotics Education & Competition Foundation (RECF), which operates one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing student robotics and drone competition organizations, and educational drone developer Robolink are expanding their longstanding partnership as the presenting sponsor of the 2026–2027 Aerial Drone Competition season and the new mission, Fast Track. Robolink will serve as the program’s official drone partner, providing its CoDrone EDU, a versatile, programmable drone designed specifically for educational purposes.

The expansion comes as demand for career-connected drone education reaches a record high. Participation in the Aerial Drone Competition grew 50% to nearly 3,000 teams in the past two years. As of today, early registrations for the 2026–2027 Aerial Drone Competition season are currently surging ahead of the same point last year, signaling continued strong growth in student and educator interest.

Meanwhile, drones and careers powering them have moved rapidly into the mainstream, from Fourth of July celebrations and Olympic opening ceremonies to farms across America, where nearly one in three farmers surveyed now use them.

The collaboration also builds on RECF’s recent partnership with Unmanned Safety Institute, connecting students with aviation safety education, industry-aligned training, and a pathway toward FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot certification.

“This collaboration is about building more than a competition program. RECF, Robolink, and Unmanned Safety Institute are creating a connected pathway that introduces students to drone technology, gives them opportunities to apply their skills, and shows them where those skills can lead,” said Dan Mantz, CEO of RECF. “As the drone industry grows, we have a shared responsibility to help more young people see themselves as part of its future.”

Each partner contributes an essential part of the student learning and workforce pathway:

The expanded partnership will help extend the Aerial Drone Competition to more communities and strengthen opportunities for JROTC teams. Robolink’s role as presenting sponsor builds on more than six years of collaboration with RECF, including early game and field design and the development of program-specific solutions such as CoDrone EDU (JROTC Edition).

"Robolink started as an afterschool STEM program, and today our drones are used in more than 9,000 schools from upper elementary through high school," says Hansol Hong, CEO of Robolink. "But the RECF's Aerial Drone Competition gives students a deeper reason to care: there are real stakes, teammates counting on you, and problems to solve under pressure. It turns STEM from something to study into something with the excitement and sense of belonging as athletics. We’re proud to help the RECF bring that experience—and the career pathways behind it—to more students.”

Designed for students in grades 4–12, the Aerial Drone Competition provides an accessible entry point into a technology field they may not otherwise encounter at school. The program focuses on hands-on, student-centered learning that combines education and fun for thousands of middle and high school students.

Teams fly and program drones, complete missions, analyze performance, document their engineering process, and communicate under pressure. Along the way, students develop technical knowledge and career-ready skills, including creativity, teamwork, leadership, adaptability, and problem-solving.

The 2026–2027 season will culminate at the RECF World Championship in St. Louis from April 2 to May 7, 2027, where qualifying Aerial Drone Competition teams will demonstrate their skills alongside students from around the world.

Teams, schools, and community organizations can learn more about the Aerial Drone Competition and register for the new season here. The Aerial Drone Competition Pro provides students with the opportunity to increase awareness and interest in drone technology, industry applications, and career paths. Learn more here.

About the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation (RECF)

The Robotics Education & Competition Foundation (RECF) is a global organization dedicated to increasing student engagement in science, technology, engineering, math, and computer science (STEM) by engaging students in hands-on, curriculum-based robotics and drone programs. Through comprehensive programs encompassing competitions, education, and workforce readiness, the Foundation empowers educators to inspire and equip students for success. The RECF strives to create a future where every student designs and innovates as part of a team, overcomes failure, perseveres, and emerges confident in their ability to meet global challenges. Through sustainable and affordable curriculum-based robotics programs, the RECF inspires students, one robot at a time.

About Robolink

One of Inc. 5000’s fast-growing private companies for 2026, Robolink makes career-launching drones and learning experiences for grades 4 and up. CoDrone EDU, the drone designed for classrooms and the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation (RECF)’s Aerial Drone Competition, allows students to program with Blockly and Python to build CS, STEM, and future-ready skills from their first flight. The company’s mission is to help educators get students excited about coding, technology, and teamwork to prepare them for high-impact careers. The Robolink team knows that not every student will go into STEM, but they believe every student should have the opportunity to see where it could take them.

A student competes in the RECF’s Aerial Drone Competition Signature Event in Terre Haute, Indiana, March 2026. Photo by Kel Cruz.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates said it intercepted an Iranian drone over its waters Monday, an attack that comes after the United States and Iran exchanged fire over the weekend for the first time in a month.

Iranian officials said two people were killed and several others injured in the U.S. attack Sunday night on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded by launching missiles at U.S. sites in Jordan, which were intercepted.

During the lull in fighting, the U.S. has been ratcheting up economic pressure on Iran with the hope of forcing concessions out of Tehran, including reopening the Strait of Hormuz to shipping.

After the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, Iran established a chokehold on the vital strait, though which a fifth of the world's traded oil passed in peacetime, slowing ship traffic to a trickle. That has roiled the global economy, raising prices worldwide for energy and other goods.

As the fighting resumed, the price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, climbed above $90, up about 25% from the start of the war, presenting a growing problem for U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of the midterm elections.

A return to open conflict would be dangerous for the region, where Iran has targeted U.S. military bases and infrastructure in Gulf countries since the war began.

In a short statement, the UAE Defense Ministry said it “dealt with” an Iranian drone that was detected over its waters approaching from Iran. There were no reports of damage.

“This dangerous escalation constitutes a blatant violation of the UAE’s sovereignty, security, and stability, and a direct threat to the safety of its citizens and residents,” the Foreign Ministry said.

The Defense Ministry later issued a second statement denying a claim by the Iranian army that the Al Minhad Air Base in Dubai had been targeted, saying it was false.

In the wake of the U.S. attack on Sunday, Iran's Foreign Ministry said Monday Iran would “not hesitate to exercise the inherent right of legitimate defense and will respond decisively to any military aggression.”

Before heading to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's summit in Kyrgyzstan with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who has favored a negotiated end to the conflict, stressed that Iran was not seeking war.

“But,” he said, “we will respond decisively to aggressors.”

The summit brings together a group billed as a counterweight to U.S. global influence, and includes Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pezeshkian was scheduled to meet with Putin on the sidelines on Tuesday.

Meantime, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was set to host meetings of the Group of 20 finance ministers in North Carolina on Monday and Tuesday, which come as Washington pressures other countries to help the U.S. economically isolate Iran.

The shifting strategy centers on threats to punish any country or entity that continues to conduct business with Tehran.

Two weeks ago, the UAE suspended all trade with Iran after saying it had come under renewed fire from Iran with two missiles fired at shipping traffic splashing down harmlessly in the Persian Gulf. Iran denied the attack.

Bessent later suggested it was pressure from Washington that led to the UAE decision.

Trump stressed last week that he is “not in a hurry” to get Iran back to the negotiating table, and he continues making the case that the Islamic Republic’s leadership is on the ropes.

Appointments to Iran’s senior security leadership in the past month, however, have signaled Tehran’s defiance after weathering decades of sanctions as well as a lack of tolerance for dissent at home.

On Sunday, U.S. Central Command said it had struck Iranian launchers after observing forces with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. military said last week it had completed clearing sea mines from the waterway’s international shipping routes.

U.S. military officials disputed Iran’s claim that the latest American strikes were an act of aggression, calling them a “limited, precise action” against what they said were minelaying forces.

Iranian state television later showed what it said were ballistic missiles being fired at American bases in Jordan, and Jordan’s military said it intercepted eight that had entered its airspace.

The last time the U.S. military confirmed targeting Iran was on July 29, when it announced a “heavy wave of strikes” on dozens of Revolutionary Guard targets including coastal surveillance and defense sites.

FILE - A small boat sails past cargo ships and other commercial vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP, File)