One of Oklahoma’s fastest-emerging industries, unmanned aircraft systems, continues its trajectory with new government partnerships and a potential new airspace and corridor for testing.
An advisory council is to be appointed by Gov. Mary Fallin, and a new state chapter of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International will be created. Dr. Stephen McKeever, executive director of the University Multispectral Laboratories, will head the council, which will include 10 to 15 people from the public and private sectors. He said Oklahoma’s assets for unmanned aircraft continue to grow in parallel to a resurgence of aerospace interest among the next generation.
One of the newest developments is an agreement in which Oklahoma entities are researching and developing unmanned aircraft that would test aircraft electronic landing systems for the Federal Aviation Administration and the Air Force, a task that is now done with more expensive-to-operate manned aircraft. The collaboration includes the UML, Oklahoma State University, the FAA and the Air Force. Their systems need to be tested every year, and if they can test them with unmanned aircraft, it will reduce costs terrifically, McKeever said.
Oklahoma also continues its work expanding the airspace in which unmanned aircraft can fly. Right now, thy cannot be flown above a certain level without specific approval from the FAA. The FAA has been mandated to come up with a strategy by 2015 for opening up the national airspace to UAS, but until then, Oklahoma is positioning itself to attract UAS testing, McKeever said. A UAS flight test and demonstration centre has been established in Lawton that allows people to fly UAS within the restricted airspace of Fort Sill, eliminating the need for approval from the FAA.
But another such opportunity is on the horizon. McKeever said they are working with the FAA for approval to operate a particular UAS at the Clinton-Sherman air base near Burns Flat. Another step in the works is to establish a UAS air corridor between the Clinton-Sherman air base and Fort Sill. Then you could test systems by taking off from one airport and landing at another one, he said.
Another promising new partnership is with the Oklahoma National Guard, which is interested in developing UAVs for emergency response activities, McKeever said. So far, Oklahoma’s UAS contracts and partnerships mostly have been with the government, but a potentially large commercial sector looms. That will become more apparent when the FAA opens the national airspace to UAS, Grimsley said. Possible commercial applications range from crop spraying to pipeline inspections to surveillance
Careers in the UAS industry are attracting students and young engineers in a way that the shuttle programme did years ago, Grimsley said. OSU also recently added a UAS option to its masters and doctorate programmes.
Source: Office of the Governor of Oklahoma, Airport Business