Hoeven Marks 10th Anniversary of General Atomics’ Operations at GrandSKY

EMERADO, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven today issued the following statement marking the 10th anniversary of General Atomics’ operations at GrandSKY: “We’ve built North Dakota into the premier location for unmanned aviation. As one of GrandSKY’s anchor tenants, General Atomics has been a tremendous partner in this effort, and we appreciate the company’s continued investment in our UAS ecosystem over these past 10 years,” said Hoeven. “When we first began working to establish our unmanned industry more than 20 years ago, GrandSKY was just an idea. Through years of collaboration and effort, we secured a lease to establish the technology and business park at the air base, and we got to work finding the right tenants to make this first-of-its-kind initiative a success. As we worked with General Atomics’ leadership, including CEO Linden Blue and President Dave Alexander, it was clear the company would be a natural fit. Today, we look back on how far we’ve our efforts have taken us and celebrate a decade of successful partnership.” Following his efforts to secure an enhanced use lease with the Air Force to establish GrandSKY, Hoeven played a key role in bringing anchor tenants, including General Atomics and Northrop Grumman, to the unmanned aerial systems (UAS) business and technology park. Hoeven held multiple meetings with General Atomics leadership, both in Washington, D.C. and North Dakota , in a bid to locate the company’s UAS training center in the Grand Forks area. Hoeven announced the original 10-year lease between GrandSKY and General Atomics in 2015, helped break ground on the facility later that year and marked its grand opening in 2017. Since that time, Hoeven has worked to expand the operations at GrandSKY, supporting General Atomics as it increased its presence and activities at the park, growing into a multi-mission hub for the company. This includes: Two permanent hangars, a temporary hangar and two office facilities totaling more than 100,000 square feet. More than 100 employees on site, supporting air systems training, flight testing and related operations. Out of its GrandSKY location, the company provides training to its military and federal partners, including the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy and Customs and Border Protection. The company also provides training for operators from nine international partners, including the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Belgium, Japan, Canada, Taiwan and Poland. Approximately 600 students per year receive training at GrandSKY through General Atomics’ courses. Testing and validation of beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations, utilizing a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) waiver that Hoeven secured . -###-