According to a report by the Dayton Daily News, zeal for a top role in the unmanned aircraft arena has prompted the Dayton Development Coalition to try to garner support within Congress and the FAA for new airspace near Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, to fly UAVs. “Having compatible airspace, that’s the Holy Grail, that’s the key to breaking into having a significant chunk of the UAV industry,” said Joe Zeis, chief strategist and a DDC vice president. So far, reports the newspaper, the FAA is “cool to the idea.”
The Pentagon’s new counter-drone task force will play a direct role in arming Airmen with new weapons to defend Air Force agile combat employment, or ACE, air bases in austere locations against enemy drone attacks, the director of Joint Interagency Task Force 401 said Oct. 14.