UTC Aerospace Systems will provide Sinclair Community College with a small unmanned aircraft system for use in the college’s training programme for first responders.
The Charlotte, N.C.-based company, a unit of United Technologies Corp., announced the deal Monday. The unmanned aerial system (UAS) includes two aircraft, a tablet-style ground station, electro-optical camera payload and data link.
The system is being developed and produced by UTC Aerospace’s Minnesota-based Sensors & Integrated Systems team. The selection marks the first time the business will serve in a prime contractor role to provide a complete micro unmanned aircraft system, company officials said.
“We are excited to be their first customer,” said Deb Norris, Sinclair’s Vice-President of Workforce Development and Corporate Services.
Sensors & Integrated Systems became part of United Technologies Corp. last month after the latter company, based in Hartford, Conn., acquired Goodrich Corp. That deal also included more than 700 workers at Goodrich’s former aircraft wheels and brakes division in Troy. The Troy facility is now part of UTC Aerospace Systems.
Sensors & Integrated Systems plans to support the local unmanned aerial systems industry by working with Dayton-area suppliers including SelectTech GeoSpatial, a Springfield advanced manufacturing company.
SelectTech Geospatial will build the test, pre-production and production models of the aircraft, said Frank Beafore, the company’s Executive director.
The UAS technology will give first responders the ability to rapidly get into the air to gather intelligence of a crime or emergency-response situation, Beafore said.
The electronic aircraft fits in the trunk of a police car, can be airborne as soon as a need is identified, and operates in near silence, Norris said.
Norris declined to disclose the purchase price of the UTC system, which will be delivered later this year. Sinclair previously purchased two Spear unmanned aircraft from Dayton-based UAVision for less than $100,000, she said.
Sinclair in April received Federal Aviation Administration approval for restricted flying of the Spears at the Springfield Air National Guard base.
Ohio will pay an estimated $1.5 million to establish a centre for unmanned aircarft to bolster the state’s UAS industry, state and local officials announced last week. State officials are looking at sites in the Dayton area to house the centre’s offices, which are intended to be a one-stop shop for government, industry and universities seeking to participate in the effort to show that UAS can be safely flown in manned airspace.
Source: Dayton Daily News