With a small crowd of legislators and civic leaders observing, a nonprofit group launched a small, unmanned aircraft at the former runway at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Great Falls, Montana early 0n Wednesday morning.Remotely controlled, the 30-pound Sandstorm plane with a 15-foot wing span performed a few silent loops as onlooker buzzed with excitement.
State Senator Ed Buttrey, R-Great Falls, a director of the Center for Remote Integration, said the demonstration was meant to show the plane’s versatility.
He said the plane was developed and manufactured by Unmanned Systems Inc. in Columbia Falls, with the first few prototypes being sold individually to national companies, such as aerospace manufacturer Northrop Grumman, which also is marketing the aircraft.
As production needs increase for that aircraft and other airframes, there’s a good chance some of the manufacturing could occur in the Great Falls area, which has a good labour force including retired military personnel and competitive manufacturing costs, he said. Buttrey said he has looked at potential manufacturing sites, but won’t do any hiring until he has firm letters of intent from manufacturers.
He said that could happen within as soon as year. Buttrey earlier operated Cable Technology Inc., a Great Falls company whose employees made complex cable assemblies for the aerospace industry.
The small Sandstorm has plenty of commercial applications, such as forest fire management and control, wildlife count and optimization of farm crops by determining which parts of a field might need more water, pesticides or fertilizer.
“These applications are things now being done from helicopters at much higher prices,” said state Senator Ryan Zinke, R-Whitefish, another CRI director. “We could fly UAS slower and at a lower altitude, collecting better data.”
Karl Purdy, a spokesman for Northrop Grumann, said the battery-powered Sandstorm that was demonstrated could fly at an altitude of about 10,000 feet for half an hour or so, but gasoline and turbo powered versions can exceed 18,000 feet and fly for four to six hours. They can be operated at about one-quarter the cost of the Predator B flown by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, he said.
Source: Great Falls Tribune