A fast-growing Florida defense company will refine and fly its technologies at a Springfield outpost, minutes away from Air Force partners at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Ondas Inc. cut the ribbon Tuesday, Aug. 18, for its training and flight operations center at the National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence off West Blee Road in Springfield.
The site is now Ondas Sentinel’s Midwest hub for long-endurance unmanned aerial systems work, bringing ground school, simulation, mission planning, and live flight operations to one location.
Ondas last month acquired Dzyne (pronounced “design”) Technologies LLC, bringing on board that company’s autonomous aerial and ground-based intelligence systems — as well as Matt McCue, founder and chief executive of Dzyne and now chief technology officer of Ondas Sentinel.
The company will have about 10 to 15 employees regularly on site in Springfield, depending on where work takes them, company leaders said.
A key technology now under the Ondas roof is the Ultra drone, a unmanned aerial system capable of flying and monitoring battlefields for nearly 72 hours at what is said to be a relatively low cost. The vehicle’s cost to the Department of Defense is in the single digits of millions of dollars, McCue said — not quite “attritable” or expendable, as military planners might say, but not far off, either.
“These vehicles are a small fraction of what the other Department of Defense large unmanned systems are,” McCue said. For example, an MQ-9 Predator drone costs around $16 million or more.
“There’s a lot of debate about where that attritable line is,” McCue said. “It all depends on how many mission elements they have. And so, we’re working closely with our partners in helping to find those requirements.”
“Seventy-two hours of ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) capabilities is really a game-changer,” said Col. Donald Braskett, commander of the 178th Wing Air National Guard unit in Springfield. The 178th shares space at the Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport with the National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence.
The center is enjoying a growing national reputation as a haven for drone training and advanced aerospace operations. Ondas leaders say the Springfield location will support long-endurance unmanned aircraft operator training, mission rehearsal, and demonstrations, not far from Air Force Research Lab partners at Wright-Patterson.
Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said Ondas’ decision to work in Springfield is yet more evidence that the city is “a place of grit,” and a place where ideas can be advanced.
“Springfield is the right place for this mission,” McCue said.
Ted Angel, who oversees the center, said the site has proven its value in commercializing advanced air mobility ideas.
“It’s about moving emerging technologies from developers into the hands of the operators,” Angel said.
Tenants at the center have included AFWERX, the Air Force’s cutting-research arm, Joby Aviation, BETA Technologies, Sinclair Community College, Parallax Advanced Research and others.
The value of Ondas’ acquisition of Dzyne was put at nearly $876 million. The move greatly advances Ondas’ “multi-domain ISR roadmap,” the company said last month.
Florida company to hold training, flight operations at new site.
