Ohio May Win Drone Test Bid

ANDREW MCGINN : DAYTON DAILY NEWS, OHIO

COLUMBUS — Companies wanting to develop unmanned aircraft systems are “sitting there waiting” for six areas of the country to get the OK to test-fly drones, the vice president of a Fortune 500 defense company told Ohio lawmakers Tuesday.

But the state essentially doesn’t have a Plan B if it fails to win a test-site designation later this year that will serve as a magnet for those new aerospace jobs.

“We’re not thinking of the possibility of losing right now,” Wayne Struble, director of policy for Gov. John Kasich, told lawmakers Tuesday at the Statehouse as part of the second annual gathering of the Ohio Senate and House Joint Aerospace Caucus.

The caucus, formed last year by state Sen. Chris Widener, R-Springfield, and state Rep. Jim Butler, R-Oakwood, held a panel discussion to brief lawmakers on the status of Ohio’s effort to become a hub of UAS research and development.

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