The system is being developed and produced by UTC Aerospace’s Minnesota-based Sensors & Integrated Systems team. The selection marks the first time the business will serve in a prime contractor role to provide a complete micro unmanned aerial system, company officials said.
“We are excited to be their first customer,” said Deb Norris, Sinclair’s vice president of workforce development and corporate services.
Sensors & Integrated Systems became part of United Technologies Corp. last month after the latter company, based in Hartford, Conn., acquired Goodrich Corp. That deal also included more than 700 workers at Goodrich’s former aircraft wheels and brakes division in Troy. The Troy facility is now part of UTC Aerospace Systems.
Sensors & Integrated Systems plans to support the local unmanned aerial systems industry by working with Dayton-area suppliers including SelectTech GeoSpatial, a Springfield advanced manufacturing company.
SelectTech Geospatial will build the test, pre-production and production models of the aircraft, said Frank Beafore, the company’s executive director.
The UAS technology will give first responders the ability to rapidly get into the air to gather intelligence of a crime or emergency-response situation, Beafore said.
The electronic air vehicle fits in the trunk of a police car, can be airborne as soon as a need is identified, and operates in near silence, Norris said.
Norris declined to disclose the purchase price of the UTC system, which will be delivered later this year. Sinclair previously purchased two Spear unmanned aerial vehicles from Dayton-based UAVision for less than $100,000, she said.
Sinclair in April received Federal Aviation Administration approval for restricted flying of the Spears at the Springfield Air National Guard base.
Ohio will pay an estimated $1.5 million to establish a center for unmanned aerial vehicles to bolster the state’s UAV industry, state and local officials announced last week. State officials are looking at sites in the Dayton area to house the center’s offices, which are intended to be a one-stop shop for government, industry and universities seeking to participate in the effort to show that UAVs can be safely flown in manned airspace.
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