Last week, the University of North Dakota (UND), in collaboration with local military leadership, showcased its latest training efforts aimed at enhancing the US armed forces’ C-UAS capabilities and operational readiness.
In partnership with the North Dakota Army and Air National Guard, UND Aerospace hosted a series of training exercises at Gorman Field UAS Test Range, located just south of Grand Forks Air Force Base.
According to Paul Snyder, director of UND’s UAS program, the recent session marked the fifth in a series conducted over the past six months. These exercises were established through a Memorandum of Understanding with both the Air and Army National Guard. Previous sessions were held at Camp Grafton, an Army National Guard installation near Devils Lake, N.D.
The training scenarios simulate adversarial drone activity, with UND operating small UAS aircraft to challenge Army command posts. Overhead, UND’s Boeing Insitu Scan Eagle and the Air Guard’s General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper provide aerial oversight.
Snyder emphasized the strategic value of Gorman Field for these operations. The 33-acre site boasts advanced radar capabilities and holds a waiver for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flight operations.
Colonel Ryan Ayers, deputy commander of the Fargo-based 119th Wing of the North Dakota Air National Guard, praised the region’s robust UAS ecosystem.
“I can’t think of any other environment like this in the world,” he said. “When you have an environment like this, there is so much goodness you can tap into. We’re essentially selling an environment where you can study, train or research whatever you want to do.”
The collaborative environment also supports education and workforce development – critical components in a field defined by rapid technological evolution.
“Having all these students who are able to be a part of this is exciting, because they are fully engaged and learning about this stuff,” Snyder said. “They are going to come up with the next big idea.”
Colonel Ayers noted that the realism of these exercises allows for effective training while minimizing risk.
“Maybe you have a new student who you feel isn’t quite savvy enough with air traffic control restrictions, and having them bust out of airspace right now would put this at risk,” he said. “Flying the simulated asset can be their 101 ride – because the instructor can correct them, there’s no risk, and they’re still getting all the sets and reps of how to coordinate airspace.”
이미지 크레딧을 게시합니다: Joe Banish/UND Today.
