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Army Building an Airport Just For Drones

Posted by timothy on from the first-part-of-the-plan dept.

schwit1 writes The Army's ever-growing use of unmanned aerial systems has gotten to the point where two of the most commonly used UAS are getting their own airport. The service's Corps of Engineers at Fort Worth, Texas, has awarded a $33 million contract to SGS to build a 150-acre unmanned aircraft launch and recovery complex at Fort Bliss for Grey Eagle and Shadow UAS. In related news, the FAA has just cleared 4 companies (Trimble Navigation Limited, VDOS Global, Clayco Inc. and Woolpert Inc.) to use drones commercially, for purposes such as site inspection and aerial surveys. (A lot of drones are already in use, of course, but the FAA doesn't like it.)

2 of 48 comments (clear)

  1. Interesting by koan · · Score: 4, Interesting

    A full on drone base ont heborder.
    Grey Eagle
            Maximum speed: 150 knots (170 mph; 280 km/h)
            Endurance: 30 hours
            Service ceiling: 29,000 ft (8,840 m)
    Shadow UAS
            Maximum speed: 127 mph; 204 km/h (110 kn)
            Cruising speed: 81 mph; 130 km/h (70 kn)
            Range: 68 mi (59 nmi; 109 km)
            Endurance: 6 h/ 9 h Increased Endurance
            Service ceiling: 15,000 ft (4,572 m) ELOS (Electronic Line Of Sight)

    Border operations? I wonder what else.

    --
    "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
  2. Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    As a pilot, in the drone industry ... bullshit. The FAA's job is to enhance the safety of aviation. The fewer people who can afford to fly, the safer. On the drone side of things, I've yet to work with anyone in the FAA, govt employee or contractor, who is a pilot or has any interests in flying beyond a means to get somewhere. On the other hand, they have a laser focus on safety, and aren't going to push out half-assed bullshit safety regulations to make the nascent drone industry happy. Simply put, to meet current aviation safety standards, drones will be unaffordable for almost every use case. It turns out that system engineering and redundancy are expensive, and that the magic of drones goes away when they have to meet safety standards.