ND: Congress-Approved Bill Will Help North Dakota Become Hub Of UAV Research, Training

Bill includes provision to ensure UAVs have access to airspace

October 23, 2009 -- (WASHINGTON, D.C.) --- A bill that earned final approval in Congress late Thursday will help ensure training programs at UND and other unmanned aerial vehicle programs will be able to access airspace in North Dakota, U.S. Senators Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad and Congressman Earl Pomeroy announced today.

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Senator Dorgan drafted the provision, Section 935, of the fiscal year 2010 National Defense Authorization Act that requires the Pentagon and the Department of Transportation to jointly write a plan that would ensure UAVs have access to the national airspace. The Department of Homeland Security, the lead agency for the Customs and Border Protection, will also contribute to the effort.

The lack of a coordinated plan between the military and the Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees flight operations throughout the National Airspace System, has made the routine operation of UAVs in American skies all but impossible.

“The use of unmanned aerial vehicles will become more and more important for our military and in the Red River Valley with the addition of the new missions at Grand Forks Air Force Base and the Department of Homeland Security,” Senator Dorgan said. “This bill will help us ensure UAVs can operate in our region and help us capitalize on these missions by establishing North Dakota as a hub of UAV activity. That’s good for our country and good for our state’s economy.”

“Thanks in large part to the superior work being done at the Grand Forks Air Force Base, the University of North Dakota and by the Hooligans in Fargo, our UAVs are clearly the wave of the future as we defend our national interests both at home and abroad,” said Senator Conrad, an original co-sponsor of the amendment. “This legislation will increase access to badly-needed training air space for the men and women who patrol our borders, conduct combat operations half a world away, and ultimately keep America safe.”

“Unmanned aerial vehicles are an invaluable component of our national security efforts, and the Grand Forks Air Force Base plays a major role in this important mission,” Congressman Pomeroy said. “UAVs need unhampered access to our airspace if they are to reach their full potential, and this bill will help clear the way for the greater deployment of this important security technology.”

Source: Senator Byron Dorgan