Grand Forks North Dakota UAV industry making big strides

Al Palmer, the head of UNDʼs unmanned aircraft research center, can talk pretty fast, but ask him how his industry is doing here in the Grand Forks region and it takes him two hours over two interviews to get everything out.

By: Tu-Uyen Tran, Grand Forks Herald

Al Palmer, the head of UNDʼs unmanned aircraft research center, can talk pretty fast, but ask him how his industry is doing here in the Grand Forks region and it takes him two hours over two interviews to get everything out.

Where does he even start?

From progress toward a test site where unmanned and manned aircraft can mix safely — critical for research and development — to a training contract with a European air force, to partnerships with North Dakota State University and businesses, Palmer ticked off one after another.

Others in the industry had plenty to say, too, mentioning the growing interest of major unmanned aircraft makers, emerging local businesses and maturing research programs. One UND project to use unmanned aircraft in precision agriculture is scheduled for real world testing at some area farms this summer.

“We have the start of an unmanned aircraft system cluster in Grand Forks,” said Chamber of Commerce President Barry Wilfahrt. He said he expects testing and training would emerge as key sectors.

Recently, the state Aeronautics Commission estimated that the unmanned aircraft industry had a $27.1 million economic impact and employed 231 statewide in 2010, mostly in Grand Forks. Thereʼs still room to grow, but the industry here has come pretty far since it started essentially from scratch a few year ago.

Teal Analysis UAV Industries Represent Key Targets of Acquisition

Paris, June 15, 2009  

"Unmanned Aerial Vehicles represent a prime area of acquisition interest for major aerospace contractors, report Teal analysts in their latest integrated market analysis.

"UAVs are one of the most active areas for acquisitions by defense companies," said Philip Finnegan, Teal Group's Director of Corporate Analysis. "The sector has the advantage of being a high growth area and having a number of small producers available for purchase." As a result, UAVs rank with intelligence, cyber security, homeland security and logistics as one of the most attractive for acquisitions." 

This  economic miracle has visited Oregon  

Insitu - Cloudcap Technologies  in the Gorge 

The Commodity is Available Land

The following is from the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News  -  It illustrates the natural advantage Central Oregon offers to UAV Companies.  Airspace over sparsely populated ground.

Central Oregon has a lot of  "Compatible Airspace"

UAV advocates want test-flying airspace closer

DAYTON — Supporters of efforts to establish the Dayton region as a national center of training, education and product development for unmanned aircraft say that persuading the government to approve airspace for flying the unmanned craft near this area is critical.

Being able to test-fly unmanned aerial vehicles and their systems near where research, development and integration of those systems takes place is a key as the Miami Valley tries to sharpen its capabilities to support Air Force acquisition of UAVs that are managed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, business leaders said. Advocates are hoping that the industry could lead to new jobs for the region.

“Having compatible space — that’s the holy grail that’s the key to breaking into having a significant chunk of the UAV industry,”

said Joe Zeis, chief strategist and a vice president of the Dayton Development Coalition.

In the news - Oregon Public Broadcasting cover story on Oregon UAV

Oregon Public Broadcasting News Story on Central Oregon UAV

Check out the linked news message about the Central Oregon UAV Area

Why Central Oregon is Ideal for UAV Test Area

Available Airspace Over Public Land 

• Like other western states, Oregon has a sizable public land base, with approximately 53 percent of its 61 million acres in federal lands.

• While Central Oregon was a crucial training area in the World War II.  Klamath Falls, Pendleton, Madras, Redmond, and Bend all had Air Force training bases.  The Military Operation Areas present in Oregon in some measure owe their presence to these former military operations.

• The Area of Consideration is in land that hosts a population density of less than 3 people per square mile, officially classified as Frontier.   Under the Juniper MOA, an area the size of Connecticut, the total population numbers less than 100 people.    

Flying Weather  

• Central Oregon has been noted first in the siting of the World War II Air Force training bases and secondly in the Chamber of commerce tag line of "300 Days of Sunshine per year" as a good place to fly.  Central Oregon also provides challenges related to weather,  in that all seasons can be represented and potentially can be represented in the same day.   

ATC Control and Lack of an Active Military Base  

• The selected area of operation is under exclusive control of Seattle Center which allows singular control over the affected airspace and control.

•  Oregon hosts  NO ACTIVE AIR FORCE BASES  so military transits and operations are primarily the Oregon AIr National Guard..   

People 

• Central Oregon was home to a thriving aviation industry  employing over 2000 people.  These employees are skilled in:
• Aircraft Design
• Aircraft Manufacture
• Aircraft Operation 
• Aircraft Maintenance and Modification

• A large and untapped talent pool exists in the community.  Less than 10% of the employee base in aviation is presently involved in the manufacture of aircraft and aircraft systems today.   Manufacturing jobs typically employee a community base of 3 times a factories employment.  This represents over 5000 jobs lost to in the Central Oregon community.     A huge opportunity to tap into this resource exists for companies willing to look into Central Oregon.

Moving forward on FAA reauthorization bill - US Congress Blog

Moving forward on FAA reauthorization bill

By Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D- N.H.) - 02/15/11 12:28 PM ET

We have big challenges we need to address to help American businesses, large and small, remain competitive in an increasingly global economy.

One of the biggest challenges we face is our declining infrastructure. Business needs a safe, reliable transportation infrastructure to keep the flow of commerce moving.

But, as President Obama mentioned in his State of the Union address, when American engineers took a look at our transportation infrastructure, they graded it as a “D”.

Our declining infrastructure threatens not only our safety, but also our global economic competitiveness. America is falling behind economic competitors like Europe and China, which are making significantly more robust investments in their infrastructure.

In the United States, we spend about 2 percent of GDP on infrastructure, which is a 50 percent decline from 1960. China and Europe, on the other hand, spend close to 9 percent and 5 percent of GDP on infrastructure, respectively.

We need to make the kind of smart investments that will help keep America competitive.

Congressional Blog - See the remainder of this Blog

Predicted Growth of UAV's in the US

Given the rapid growth of UAS operations for governmental purposes, there appears to be tremendous potential for U.S. industry in the evolving commercial UAS sector. However, it is extremely difficult to determine actual commercial market size in light of the many regulatory and technological obstacles to be overcome before UAS can be integrated into civilian air space. Various studies have been conducted regarding the future market opportunities for civil UAS sales worldwide.

 Many analysts are bullish on market growth, although there is wide variance in views about the actual market size, which range from a healthy 10-15 percent per year to order of magnitude growth in civil market opportunities. According to a 2010 market study by the Teal Group, the current UAS market will more than double in the next decade: worldwide UAS Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) and procurement expenditures are expected to increase from $4.9 billion in 2010 to over $11.5 billion in 2019.54 The study suggests that the U.S. will account for 76% of RDT&E spending on UAS technology over the next decade and 58% of the procurement.  Finally, the study predicts that UAS demand will be highest in the U.S., with Europe representing the second largest market, followed closely by Asia-Pacific.

US Commerce Department