DOD Officials Approve East Coast UAS and AAM Test Corridor

Government agencies are developing a prototype testing and evaluation corridor for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and advanced air mobility (AAM) technologies.

Jack Daleo

Friday, June 02, 2023 at 01:05 PM ET

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The NARTP facility opened in 2017 in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey. [Courtesy: Stockton University]

Key Takeaways:

New York's 50-mile drone testing corridor has successfully advanced unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and advanced air mobility (AAM) technologies since 2019, conducting FAA evaluations and beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) tests.
Inspired by New York's success, the National Aerospace Research and Technology Park (NARTP) in New Jersey is developing a new 78-mile UAS and AAM testing corridor.
This new corridor will connect Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (NJ) to Dover Air Force Base (DE) and is supported by U.S. Department of Defense entities (USTRANSCOM, AMC) to foster military, commercial, and academic development of drones and air taxis.
The NARTP is also actively engaged in other advanced aviation initiatives, including the Airfield Autonomy Initiative for automated airfield maintenance and planning early AAM services in New Jersey.

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Since the completion of the Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance’s (NUAIR) 50-mile drone testing corridor in 2019, the state of New York has conducted drone integration evaluations for the FAA, flown routine beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) tests, and even experimented with 5G technology.

New York’s drone corridor has been a major boon for the state’s wider aviation industry and the development of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and advanced air mobility (AAM) technologies—so much so that its Tri-State area neighbor is planning to build its own.