Business will benefit if the Federal Aviation Administration decides Southern California should be an unmanned aircraft test zone. That’s the opinion of several business groups and observers in the San Diego area.
The San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp., the San Diego Military Advisory Council, and several other organizations said recently they were working to make Southern California open to drone testing. The FAA says that it wants to designate six zones where unmanned aircraft would be integrated into U.S. air space, and that it might choose those sites later this year.
Defense contractors Northrop Grumman Corp., General Atomics, Cubic Corp. and Epsilon Systems Solutions Inc. have joined the coalition with EDC and SDMAC, according to a fact sheet distributed by the two business groups.
Working with groups in the Imperial Valley and the Mojave Desert, the local agencies propose a wide swath of Southern California as a drone test site, from the ocean to the borders of Arizona and Mexico.
The unmanned systems industry already supports more than 7,000 jobs in San Diego County and accounts for more than 12 percent of U.S. Defense Department contracting in the region, according to a recent report from the San Diego North Chamber of Commerce. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. produces military drones in Poway. Northrop Grumman engineers its military drones in Rancho Bernardo.
Good for Business
Meanwhile, thinkers are already dreaming up commercial uses for small aircraft that don’t necessarily have to be big enough to hold a pilot. Pipeline or power line inspection could be two possible tasks.
An FAA-designated test zone in Southern California would likely be good for business, said Chris Barter, program manager for the Scout air reconnaissance system at Vista-based Datron World Communications.
“We can offer just about any environment you can find in the U.S.” just in San Diego County, said Barter. There are mountains, beaches, border areas and deserts, though the one thing San Diego does not offer is an exceptionally windy area, he said.
Datron’s Scout is a 3-pound helicopter able to carry a camera aloft for up to 20 minutes, and marketed to public safety agencies, the U.S. Department of Defense and foreign militaries.
Separately, the Department of Homeland Security is evaluating several manufacturers’ drones — including the Scout — for use in civil emergencies, Barter reported. Work is being done at Oklahoma State University’s Multispectral Lab near the U.S. Army’s Fort Sill, which is becoming a test bed for small drones.
Oklahoma is reportedly pushing to become one of the six FAA-designated zones.
Rory Moore, CEO of the CommNexus telecommunications association, said a drone testing zone would “absolutely” be good for local business.
A company such as General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has the advantage of a desert test range for their projects, said Moore. However, Moore said, small companies have no such resources. Where are they to test their unmanned aircraft projects, he asked.
Commercial Work
Moore, who has 40 years’ experience as a private pilot, said he sees ways that unmanned aircraft could coexist with commercial and general aviation traffic. The coasts are crowded, but inland air space at certain altitudes is not, he said.
Unmanned aircraft testing could be “a shot in the arm” for a community such as Borrego Springs, he added.
The FAA zone could lead to startups and innovation, Moore said.
Jordi Muñoz, president and chief technology officer of 3D Robotics, said loosening restrictions on drones and developing commercial applications for them would be good for his business.
His company sells electronics and hardware to hobbyists who dabble in unmanned aircraft — ones that typically weigh 3 or 4 pounds. The firm operates in San Diego, Tijuana and the San Francisco Bay area.
Opening up the skies for commercial work, such as real estate photography, would get people buying more equipment, Muñoz said.
Drones could work in agriculture, Muñoz said, for crop inspection, pesticide application — or the targeted release of beneficial insects.
Muñoz said 3D Robotics exceeded $5 million in revenue in 2012, growing from $2.5 million in 2011.
In related news, the San Diego EDC and SDMAC said they are involved in a wider effort to make San Diego a center of excellence for all types of unmanned vehicles — not just flying machines.