Oklahoma – A State wide approach towards unmanned aerial systems

Oklahoma has established state-wide assets and resources to support the development and growth of the UAS industry. Notable developments include:

• The only UAS testing and training facility dedicated solely to the UAS marketplace with access to 12,192 meters of surface and 2,574 cubic kilometers of flight space;                        
• First master’s and doctoral degrees with options in UAS in the U.S. at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater;                                                                                                           
• University Multispectral Laboratories – Oklahoma State University (OSU) established the University Multispectral Laboratories (UML) as a government-owned, contractor-operated (GOCO) nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation, tasked as a “Trusted Agent” to develop and operate Research, Development, Test, Evaluation, and Training (RDTE&T) laboratory and field facilities in support of C5ISR and CBRNE missions including; urban, rural, subterranean, explosive, and UAS complexes aided by test and evaluation equipment and sensors to meet U.S. Federal, State, local and commercial requirements;                 
• Oklahoma is presently home to 15 companies servicing the UAS industry.                     
• An urban UAS testing facility consisting of a 20.5 square kilometers training site with a 708,200 square meter acre urban testing location at an former college campus for training in urban operations and radio frequency and sensor testing;                      
• Access to the only restricted airspace for government sponsored defense- and security-related commercial UAS testing in the U.S.;                                                                            
• Strong partnerships with companies such as FlightSafety International, Design Intelligence Inc., Tactical Electronics Inc., Zivko Aeronautics, Atria Defense Group, and Frontier Electronics;                                                                                                            
• Oklahoma State University in Stillwater UAV Flying Field – 18 meter x 600 meter runway and 11 square meter hangar for UAS education and training;                                                   
• Students at Oklahoma State University are world leaders when it comes to UAS and have dominated the international design/build/fly competition in recent years, winning seven times and finishing 1-2 on five occasions;                                                             
• Annual UAS Summits, organized by the Oklahoma Chapter of AUVSI, USA-OK.                                                     
• State tax incentives targeting aerospace professionals and companies and an attractive pro-business environment for growth.