Springfield gets $6M grant to build facility for ‘advanced air mobility’ research

The U.S. Department of Defense awarded Springfield $6 million to build a facility at Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport to house a flight research center.

The National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence project will include office space and an aircraft hangar.

“This project provides a new research facility for government, academia and industry to continue advancing our national security efforts,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton. “Wright-Patt and the Springfield-Beckley airport will join together for groundbreaking innovation and research to strengthen our overall war-fighting capabilities in air, space and cyberspace forces.”

The grant was awarded through the DOD’s community infrastructure program, according to a news release.

“This grant recognizes the importance of Springfield’s National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence to Wright-Patterson and the Defense Department in developing this emerging aerospace technology. The region is well on its way to becoming the hub of defense-related as well as commercial advances in flying cars,” stated Jeff Hoagland, president and CEO of the Dayton Development Coalition.

The airport already is home to other aerospace technology firms researching expanded drone flight and flying vehicles.

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