SkyVision Deployment to Southwest Ohio

In April 2019, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor Jon Husted and Major General William Cooley, Commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, launched SkyVision. DriveOhio's Unmanned Aircraft Systems Center and AFRL began testing the groundbreaking aviation technology at the Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport in Clark County near Dayton, Ohio.

SkyVision, is an air traffic control system that enables Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS). SkyVision is a collaboration between AFRL and the State of Ohio which safely, accurately and effectively allows UAS' drones to detect and avoid other aircraft while in flight.

The FAA authorized a special waiver to allow AFRL to test defense-related drone technology without reliance on a visual observer or chase aircraft.

In order to support the movement of goods via Advanced Aviation Mobility (AAM) vehicles such as those bulleted below SkyVision technology and its BVLOS capabilities must be expanded to Southwest Ohio (Butler, Warren, Hamilton, Clermont, and Brown counties).

• The term Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is replacing the use of “drone” or “unmanned” aerial vehicle to describe technology that can be used primarily for short trips transporting parcels typically weighing five pounds or less between modes or for first and last mile transport.
• Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft can launch vertically like a helicopter before transitioning to long-range flight. While there are many applications of VTOL technology, within freight, they will likely serve as a combination of middle mile and last mile functions. VTOLs consist of technology allowing remote human operation, potentially from a centralized hub with multiple operators, or they may operate autonomously with a pre-programmed flight path.

The deployment of SkyVision to Southwest Ohio would enable the use of UAVs and VTOLs to deliver goods instead of multiple small truck deliveries. The Ohio Department of Transportation in collaboration with JobsOhio has formed an AAM Team comprised of public and private stakeholders. This team is developing real world AAM deployment opportunities. The healthcare industry and the delivery of blood, medical test samples and medical supplies is viewed as having the greatest opportunity for use of AAM deployment in the region.