In just a matter of years, quadrotor drones have gone from consumer playthings to CIA-level technology. Drone manufacturer DJI's Dock 3 moves well beyond the consumer sector, targeting emergency responders and infrastructure inspectors. The "drone-in-a-box" system allows the company's autonomous Matrice 4D and Matrice 4TD drones to be deployed from a moving vehicle, and can operate in extreme temperatures, from -22°F to 122°F (-30°C to 50°C).

The drones feature multiple cameras: Wide-angle, medium telephoto, proper telephoto, and infrared thermal for night vision. They're also equipped with a laser range finder, and can do fancy tricks like follow moving vehicles and map the surrounding terrain.

The drones have a forward-flight time of 54 minutes, or can hover for 47 minutes. Their communication range is an insane 10km, and you can use more than one drone to extend the range, relay-style; you can also have two drones share just one of the dock units, in a hot-racking set-up.

The demonstration is pretty nuts:

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These are expected to retail in the low-$20,000 range.