San Diego’s Drone Industry Doubles in Size
MILITARISM, 5 Nov 2012
Gary Robbins – North County Times
The size of San Diego County’s unmanned aerial vehicle industry doubled over the past five years and could double again as UAVs are increasingly used for everything from spying on suspected terrorists abroad to monitoring the U.S.-Mexico border, says a National University System report released Wednesday [31 Oct 2012].
The industry, which is centered in North County, generated at least $1.3 billion locally in 2011 and directly and indirectly supported 7,135 jobs. The report says the true impact could be far higher due to classified programs that are not included in public records.
Most of the business can be tied to two defense giants — Northrop Grumman of Rancho Bernardo, which specializes in Global Hawk UAVs, and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems of Poway, which is best-known for Predators.
Both companies develop a variety of the so-called drones, primarily for use outside the U.S. by the military and government. The UAVs were extensively used in the Iraq war, and are being used in the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan. But the UAVs may soon also be used domestically by law enforcement and other agencies, a move that is opposed by many privacy advocates.
Analysts say the global market for such aircraft could exceed $12 billion by 2019.
“This is a dynamic, growing industry, and San Diego has a big opportunity to take advantage of the expected growth,” said Kelly Cunningham, an economist at National’s Institute for Policy Research and lead author of the report.
The study was commissioned by the San Diego North Chamber of Commerce.
“We wanted to highlight the importance of the UAV sector, and to show the impact it has on the northern part of the county,” said Debra Rosen, president of the chamber, which has about 800 members, including Northrop Grumman.
“Small businesses here would really be affected if we lost any of this industry.”
San Diego County is the national center of the UAV industry. But such states as Oklahoma and South Dakota are trying to devise ways to lure a piece of the business. As the report states, “Several are making coordinated efforts to win designation from the (Federal Aviation Administration) as UAV test beds in the hopes that this will lead to increased R&D and manufacturing.”
The report is meant to highlight that risk.
Cunningham sees it clearly and notes that San Diego has at least two competitive advantages: An educated workforce and the county’s desirable weather. Local contractors also have long, successful ties to the military, a primary user of drones.
These factors and others have helped San Diego County rebound from the deep slump that hit the aerospace industry after the end of the Cold War. The report notes that local aerospace contracts rose from $56 million in 2001 to $2.9 billion in 2011. The growth has made UAVs the largest single category in the county’s defense contractor sector.
The Pentagon is investing heavily in UAVs at a time when other areas of the defense budget are being cut. Analysts say that is likely to continue. The two presidential candidates — Barack Obama and Mitt Romney — expressed strong support for drones during a debate this month.
Drones have proved to be useful platforms, and they are less expensive than many military weapons and surveillance systems. And UAVs do not carry crews that could be killed.
Drones have become a standard tool in surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence gathering partly because of contributions by San Diego State University and the University of California San Diego.
Northrop Grumman donated a section of a Global Hawk wing to SDSU in recognition of work the school’s alumni, professors and students did on a variety of UAV projects. The connection is so tight that Northrop Grumman currently employs more than 400 SDSU graduates.
UCSD has been involved in UAV research for more than a decade, working on such areas the structural integrity of drones, better propulsion systems and ways to fly UAVs in coordinated packs. The university also is working to keep a heavy research load.
“Our challenge in San Diego is access to FAA-approved airspace for flight testing autonomous UAVs,” said John Kosmatka, an engineering professor at UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering. “This is the advantage that North Dakota, New Mexico, and Oklahoma have over us, where large open spaces and military bases are available.
Currently NASA-Dryden in Lancaster is the closest location for approved autonomous flight testing, but UC San Diego is working with the Navy to develop a closer FAA-approved location.
Such collaboration is essential, Cunningham said.
“San Diego benefits from industry and academia coming together to identify gaps and opportunities for the local UAV industry, while providing science, technology, engineering, math (STEM) students with an understanding of the immense economic opportunities in the industry,” Cunningham said. “Complacency could cause the region to lose its leadership position and miss an opportunity to support a dynamic industry posed for even greater growth.”
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