Stark Aerospace soon will begin test flying unmanned aerial systems from Golden Triangle Regional Airport.
Retired Marine Maj. Gen. Thomas “Tango” Moore, the company”s vice president of marketing and operations made the announcement on Tuesday, during a Columbus Rotary Club meeting.
Stark”s parent company is Israel Aerospace Industries, a leader in military and commercial aerospace. Locally, the company is best known for its remote-control aerial systems, which offer air and land surveillance without being heard or seen.
Often the darkly painted UAVs are dispatched at night, and at 5,000-8,000 feet in the air, they cannot be heard.
Stark”s Heron, a UAV with a 54-foot wingspan, is utilized in stealth drug enforcement operations.
“What we”re talking about here is flying robots,” Moore said. “They are phenomenal.”
The UAVs are programed with their destination, surveillance and landing instructions and are monitored remotely.
Stark Aerospace plans to hire 15 people at the local plant by the end of the year. The company, which produces unmanned aerial vehicles and plug-in electo-optic surveillance systems, currently employs 135 people at its 106,000-square-foot plant in the industrial park, near the Golden Triangle Regional Airport.
The Federal Aviation Administration has yet to approve general flight of UAVs in the U.S., Moore said. However, potential uses could be for assessing storm damage. Moore has explored this possibility with state officials, in light of tornadoes over the years, that have caused extensive damage.
The Hunter, produced for the U.S. Army, has tens of thousands of hours in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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