Northrop Grumman has submitted a letter of intent to be a tenant at the Grand Sky business park at the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota, one of six states that have been authorized to test unmanned aerial vehicles.
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), a proponent of the Grand Sky project, said Wednesday that Northrop will be the park’s first tenant and have access to the base’s facilities, security and runway.
“Finalizing Grand Sky is a significant step forward for the future of public-private partnerships and the development of unmanned aerial systems in North Dakota,” she said.
“The UAS industry has the potential to greatly help our state grow and thrive, and I will continue to support efforts to make that possible.”
The senator noted that Northrop will collaborate with the U.S. Air Force and the Grand Forks community in order to leverage North Dakota’s selection by the Federal Aviation Administration as one of the official UAS test sites.