Welcome to Skydome: New indoor drone testing site opens at Griffiss in Rome
There are only seven Federal Aviation Administration drone test sites in the country and the one located in the Mohawk Valley has new testing capabilities.
Federal, state and local officials gathered to celebrate the grand opening of the Skydome test facility at Griffiss Business and Technology Park in Rome on Thursday. The $13 million project converted a World War II era hangar into the nation’s largest indoor unmanned aircraft systems test facility.
The indoor space at Skydome will allow for year-round experimentation and testing of advanced drone technology, like autonomous swarms of smaller drones, both inside and outside, said Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente Jr. The facility will help with efforts between the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate and NY UAS Test site at the airport.
“Every day we see the growing power and potential of drones and unmanned (aerial) vehicles,” Picente said.
The county executive mentioned the role drones are playing in the war in Ukraine, where small systems have been used to destroy armored vehicles. Commercial uses, including doorstep drone deliveries, are also being developed.
Skydome was funded through $9 million in state funds and $4 million in Oneida County funds.
The state funds were split between $4.5 million from the CNY Rising Upstate Revitalization Initiative and $4.5 million from the Mohawk Valley Upstate Revitalization Initiative.
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Air Force Col. Fred Garcia II said he was skeptical of the intergovernmental partnerships bearing fruit so quickly on projects connected to the Air Force Research Laboratory when he took command in 2021.
“What kind of stuff is in the water here in Rome … because these partnerships actually do really work and they’re working really, really well,” Garcia said. “And you can see by what we’ve got here today at Skydome.”
It’s the latest element to the growing drone technology industry in the Mohawk Valley.
In November 2020, the state celebrated completion of the nation’s first 50-mile unmanned traffic management drone corridor, stretching from Griffiss toward Syracuse. Earlier the same year, the state established a partnership with Israel to collaborate on unmanned aircraft systems in the Mohawk Valley.
Last October, the state announced the drone corridor between Rome and Syracuse would host the first-in-the-nation 5G test network for drones. The corridor permits federal authorization for operators to fly their drones beyond their line of sight.
“The completion of the Skydome represents the latest step in the Mohawk Valley’s transition to a tech economy and we’re seeing the dividends of the state’s investments here,” said Hope Knight, the president, CEO and commissioner of Empire State Development.
The other six FAA drone testing sites are located in Alaska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas and Virginia.
Steve Howe is the city reporter for the Observer-Dispatch. Email him at showe@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Rome drone testing facility Skydome grand opening celebrated
