General Atomics Inaugurates Pilot Training Hangar

Aug. 10—GRAND FORKS — Leaders of the defense community, along with two of the three members of North Dakota's congressional delegation, gathered at Grand Sky Business and Aviation Park on Wednesday, Aug. 9, to commemorate the opening of a new pilot training hangar.

The hangar will be used by defense contractor General Atomics — a longstanding tenant of Grand Sky — to train pilots to operate its unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). These include the company's MQ9 Reaper aircraft and MQ9-B SkyGuardian — both designed for high altitude surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

U.S. Sen. John Hoeven said the intersection of Grand Forks' reputation as a world-class hub for UAS research, General Atomics' stature in the industry and UND's John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences is an ideal partnership.

"This is the premier partnership for all things unmanned aviation in the world, and it just gets better," he said. "Today is a perfect example of that."

"This is important stuff for our nation," Hoeven added. "This is cutting-edge technology that is absolutely vital for our country. We will not let any of our adversaries get ahead of us. They won't get ahead of us, because of the kind of efforts that are occurring here."

U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer — a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee — said General Atomics is an industry leader in UAS innovation.

"You have here an entrepreneurial culture that moves fast," he said. " General Atomics — even among its peers — is special in that sense. It's something that when you get to know them all, you see the difference right away."

The ceremony was also attended by members of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force, who are in Grand Forks to receive training from General Atomics. According to General Atomics CEO Linden Blue, the company will train defense personnel from Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, among others.

Cramer said the work of Grand Sky and General Atomics is vital in maintaining a strong relationship with the U.S. and its allies.

"A week doesn't go by that an ambassador, defense minister or foreign minister doesn't call or come into my office in need of help," he said. "The kind of help that we as a country, ally and friend can provide, which adds value to what we can do ourselves. It becomes a dynamic relationship rather than just a linear or transactional one."

Mayor Brandon Bochenski thanked General Atomics for its commitment to Grand Forks.

" General Atomics has really grown quietly in our community," he said. "They've expanded their workforce, and play a very important role in our local economy. They certainly play a key role in our national security, both at home and abroad."

Blue said General Atomics' new aircraft have better remote sensing abilities to counter different threats in Europe and the western Pacific.

"They're picking up radars that may be almost 200 nautical miles away from the airplane," he said. "That wasn't a characteristic of the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in the counterterrorism fights that we know about."

He also said North Dakota's location allowed General Atomics to expand the flying range for its aircraft.

"There are many things that brought us here, and many things you couldn't do anywhere else, or you couldn't do well anywhere else," Blue said. "If you use a geostationary satellite, you can't go very far north. What we did from here was prove that if you use different types of satellite, you can go all the way up to 78 degrees north. This proves that these aircraft today can cover the maritime approaches to the North Sea, and most of the Bering Sea off of Alaska."

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