Grand Forks County, North Dakota, has landed a modification worth up to $102.8 million to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to support the military’s unmanned aerial systems. The DOD said Thursday that the contracting activity is the Washington Headquarters Services in Arlington, Virginia.
Table of Contents
UAS Contract Details
According to the terms of the contract, Grand Forks County will support the development of airspace operations technology and concepts for UAS under the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. The county will aid in integrating the UAS into routine DOD operations by conducting simulated and live exercises. The contract’s cumulative value is $121.9 million and no funds have been obligated yet. The work is set to be completed by May 19, 2029, and will occur in Grand Forks County, North Dakota.
FAA Approves Airbus Aerial Operations in North Dakota
In 2019, the Federal Aviation Administration authorized Airbus Aerial to operate UAS in the county as part of a public-private program to integrate it into public airspace. The company will use a SenseFly eBee drone to inspect Xcel Energy’s power lines, including beyond-visual-line-of-sight, or BVLOS.
North Dakota is one of 10 communities selected for the UAS Integration Pilot Program, focusing on BVLOS, night operations and flights over people.
Related Articles
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has appointed Tidal “Ty” McCoy II, most recently a principal at Nexfed, as intelligence community chief financial officer. McCoy announced his appointment at ODNI in a LinkedIn post published Tuesday. Hear experts discuss the latest tech advancements, trends and opportunities facing the IC at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Intel Summit on Oct. 2. Reserve your spot now! Who Is Tidal McCoy? In 2022, McCoy joined strategy consulting firm Nextfed as a vice president. At Nexfed, he led the firm’s intelligence and acquisition strategy practice and played a key role in mergers
The National Science Foundation has launched an initiative to invest up to $100 million in a national network of artificial intelligence-enabled programmable cloud laboratories as part of efforts to advance automated science and engineering and drive discoveries and innovation. NSF said Tuesday the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, or TIP, will lead the NSF Test Bed: Toward a Network of Programmable Cloud Laboratories, or NSF PCL Test Bed. “The idea of a national network of programmable cloud laboratories builds on NSF’s longstanding legacy of transformative investments — such as NSFNET decades ago — that paved the way for the modern
Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Maggie Hassan, D-N.H.; Susan Collins, R-Maine; and Angus King, I-Maine have proposed legislation that would spare the Navy’s four public shipyards from workforce reductions. Called the Protecting Public Naval Shipyards Act, the bipartisan bill tells the Department of Defense to exempt certain positions at public shipyards from hiring freezes and layoffs to ensure that nuclear-powered submarine maintenance and overhaul are uninterrupted. “This bipartisan bill will ensure that important naval operations continue without disruption by exempting public shipyard employees from the chaotic mass firings, workforce reductions, and hiring freezes directed by the Trump Administration,” said Hassan. Top