STARKVILLE — With two Columbus companies heavily involved in what Dr. Jon Waldrop calls an industry in its infancy, Columbus is establishing a reputation in the market of unmanned aircraft.
“I see a real opportunity here to develop what I call a center of excellence in this field,” said Waldrop, senior vice president of development at Stark Aerospace in Columbus.
“We aren’t among the biggest companies in this field,” agreed Gregory Stewart, development director for Aurora Flight Sciences Corp., also based in Columbus. “But this is a field that has enormous growth potential and we’re in on the ground floor of that.”
Waldrop and Stewart were at Mississippi State University’s Raspet Flight Research Laboratory in Starkville on Monday, during a reception to kick off the three-day Unmanned Aerial Systems Symposium.
The symposium will host experts in the unmanned aircraft field from throughout the country.
Although the military’s drone aircraft has drawn the most attention, companies such as Aurora and Stark are developing unmanned systems and components that range from units not much bigger than a brief case to aircraft with 132-foot wingspans that can be manned or unmanned.
Both Stewart and Waldrop said the real boom in the unmanned industry might ultimately lie in the commercial application of systems that, until now, have been developed and implemented primarily for the military.
Shelby County, Tenn. is currently considering the purchase of two unmanned aircraft, but law enforcement is not the only potential non-military customer. The uses of the unmanned aircraft are almost unlimited.
“There are any number of commercial possibilities,” Stewart said. “Whether it’s environmental research, first responders, agriculture, helping with wildfires, there are so many applications.
“I can see the day when unmanned air systems are as common as weather satellites and cell phone towers.
“You and I will both live to see the day when commercial airliners will be operated with unmanned systems,” he added. “It’s not a question of (whether it will) happen, only when. And that day will come sooner than you might imagine.”
And when it happens, even the smaller companies in the industry will see enormous growth, said Waldrop, who left Lockheed Martin to join Stark Aerospace three months ago.
“Right now, this is about a $7 billion to $10 billion industry,” Waldrop said. “In 10 years, it’s projected to be a $93 billion industry. The military is the dominant consumer now and may continue to be, but the commercial prospects are what will drive that growth.”
But obstacles exist.
“The problem we face with the commercial side is a situation the military doesn’t have to worry about,” Stewart said. “The military owns the space they fly in. Here, though, you have Joe Blow and he wants to fly his Cessna. You have the commercial airlines, helicopters, medi-vacs. The skies are not empty. And that’s the problem.”
Al Brunner of the Federal Aviation Association agreed.
“Here is the illustration I use to describe the issue,” Brunner said. “Let’s say you have this big hand-woven tapestry. Let’s say it has a couple of horses on it or something. Well, suppose someone comes up to you and says, “I want you to add a tank to that tapestry.” To do that, you would have to take the tapestry apart thread-by-thread. You couldn’t just sew in that tank. And that’s what we’re dealing with here.
“It’s not a matter so simple as incorporating unmanned aircraft into our current system,” he concluded. “It’s devising an integrated system. It won’t be easy. In fact, I’m certain it won’t be perfect initially. But it will come.”
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