As the U.S. military slowly shifts from piloted planes to unmanned drones, Utah has received a new indication that it will have a big stake in the future.
Dugway Proving Ground, in Utah's west desert, has been selected as a training center for three unmanned aerial vehicle systems, including what is arguably the Army's highest profile project, the MQ-1C Warrior.
The Warrior, built in part by Salt Lake City-based L-3 Communications Systems-West, is the Army's surveillance and attack upgrade to the Air Force's Predator drone. Soldiers from the Army's 25th Infantry Division took a test version of the Warrior into a fight in Iraq's volatile Diyala province in February, killing two suspected insurgents that division officials said had attacked one of their patrols.
The Army plans to build more than 130 of the unmanned planes, which can stay aloft for two days, fly nearly as fast as an Apache helicopter and carry up to four air-to-ground missiles.
Dugway will carry out acceptance testing -- the final assessment before aircraft are sent to Army units for use -- on the Warrior, as well as the Army's RQ-7 Shadow and RQ-5 Hunter surveillance drones.
"Dugway Proving Ground is happy to be part of this initiative and we're glad to have the support of our Army leaders," said Dugway Commander Robert Jones Jr.
Jones also expressed appreciation for the work of Utah's Congressional delegation, which has been pushing to give a Utah home to the drones in meetings with Army Test and Evaluation Command leaders.
In a letter to Army officials, Sen. Orrin Hatch advertised Dugway as ideal, given its nearly 800,000 acre land mass and access to the nearby Utah Test and Training Range.
"The testing that will go on at Dugway has the potential to save the lives of countless American soldiers," Hatch said in a statement.
Unmanned aerial vehicles "represent the future of military aviation and are destined to become an ever more important part of America's arsenal," he said.
The Army decision to test its drones in Utah may have an impact on an ongoing debate about where to repair Air Force drones, as well.
Hill Air Force Base is one of the military facilities under consideration for depot work on the Air Force's predator MQ-9 Reaper drones.
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