Coalition Working to Create Regional Center of Excellence for Unmanned Systems
The endeavor, which includes effort to have Southern California designated as a
Unmanned Autonomous Systems test site, could increase investment in the region, spark job growth and bring additional companies to San Diego and Imperial counties
SAN DIEGO – March 22, 2013: The San Diego Military Advisory Council (SDMAC),
Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International – San Diego (AUVSI) and San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC), in concert with regional Chambers of Commerce and Unmanned Autonomous Systems (UAS) Developers and industry associations, are leading efforts to create a region wide Center of Excellence for
Unmanned Systems that operate in the air, on the water, underwater and on land.
Unmanned Systems are growing in importance for many of federal government agencies, including the Department of Defense, and in the commercial market. It is one area where funding is growing, not decreasing.
The San Diego Area is well suited to be a Center of Excellence (COE) for Unmanned Systems with good weather, access to ranges (air, sea and land), academic institutions with strong engineering curriculums, a highly technical workforce, two large manufacturers of Unmanned Air Systems located here, and the largest concentration of military in the world which can be leveraged. SDMAC and EDC strongly believe this effort has the potential to increase investment in the region, spark job growth and bring additional companies to the area. For example, the UAS industry more than 7,000 jobs and accounts for more than 12 percent of all Department of Defense contracting activities in San Diego County, according to an industry report by the San Diego North Chamber of Commerce. That report said the industry has the potential to nearly double its economic impact over the next seven years. As an example, Northrop Grumman’s decision to designate its Rancho Bernardo facility as their Center of Excellence for UAS development is expected to bring approximately 300 new jobs to the region.
As part of the effort to create a region–‐wide COE for Unmanned Systems, SDMAC and EDC are coordinating efforts to have Southern California designated as a UAS Test Site by the FAA.
FAA UAV Test Site Designation
The FAA has issued a Screening for Information Request (SIR), which is similar to a Request for Proposal (RFP), to designate six UAV test sites across the Continental United States to integrate Unmanned Air Systems into U.S. National Airspace. SDMAC and EDC coordinated a San Diego coalition of SDMAC, EDC, AUVSI, Imperial Valley EDC, County of Imperial, Holtville Airport and defense contractors, including Northrup Grumman Corporation, General Atomics, Cubic Corporation, and Epsilon Systems Solutions Inc.
This coalition joined an already established entity called California Unmanned Air Systems Portal (Cal UAS Portal), which is based in Indian Wells, to create a proposed UAV Test Site that would extend From the NAS China Lake/Edwards Air Force Area, west to the ocean, south to the Mexican border and east to the Arizona border.
The proposed test range region is geographically diverse and includes airspace over mountains, high and low desert, an international border region and the ocean. It would provide the UAS industry with an easily accessible testing range.
By creating the ecosystems where UAS developers have easy access to the ranges, coupled with all the other benefits the area has, the region stands to benefit through job growth and other economic drivers.
