Emerado, N.D. – The U.S. military is conducting its first live cargo drone flights, which is being hailed as a milestone in unmanned aircraft system development within the Defense Department.
North Dakota Senator John Hoeven was on hand on Friday afternoon at the GrandSKY UAS Flight Operations Center in Emerado to witness the first flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base and Cavalier Space Force Station.
“It’s just exciting [how] we’re bringing this all together and really leading the effort in making this happen,” Hoeven told Flag Family News ahead of the official announcement.
The flights are facilitated through Project ULTRA, which is a program created by Hoeven to advance the use of UAS within the U.S. military.
‘ULTRA’ is an acronym for Unmanned Logistics, Traffic Readiness and Autonomy.
Hoeven says the U.S. military will run fifty such flights over the next year, and will eventually expand beyond North Dakota.
“Once we show them how to do it and make it routine, then you’ll see [the flights] adopted in other places,” said Hoeven.
Listen: North Dakota Senator John Hoeven talks about the military drone cargo flight event in North Dakota
On top of the flights, Hoeven is announcing an increase in Project ULTRA funding, which will rise from $8 million to $100 million.
“That’s going to enable us not to develop this technology, but with the amazing UAS ecosystem we’ve built up in Grand Forks it will enable the Department of Defense these new technologies much more cost-effectively and much quicker,” said Hoeven.
The Northern Plains UAS Test Site in Grand Forks has also played a key role in drone development through Project ULTRA.
Hoeven also explained how the funding will allow all branches of the military to explore partnerships with companies.
“If there’s a technology and a company that they’re interested in using their product or services, they can use this funding and our ecosystem to actually develop and test it to see if it’s what they want,” said Hoeven.
The Pentagon also recently announced a new focus on producing many more smaller drones that can act like bombs on the battlefield, similar to usage in the war in Ukraine.
“That is exactly how we’re going to get to these things like the low-cost drones that we need with the right capabilities,” said Hoeven.
