Early operations at Grand Sky have been so successful for its tenants that expansion plans are already in the works.
Just four months after officially opening its facility at Grand Sky, anchor tenant Northrop Grumman has announced plans to double its physical footprint at the park. The company will begin building a 35,000 square foot hangar at Grand Sky later this summer, which will be used to support its flight testing and maintenance operations for a fleet of autonomous UAS, including the Global Hawk and future aircraft such as the MQ-4C Triton. In April 2017, the company celebrated the opening of its 36,000 square foot Grand Sky R&D facility.
In an interview with National Defense magazine, Dave Hambleton, Northrop Grumman’s Grand Sky program manager and site lead, noted the unique benefits of operating at Grand Sky, including:
- Access to both civil and restricted airspace
- Opportunities to collaborate with area universities
- Close proximity to the Northern Plains UAS Test Site
The ramping up of operations at the park is also creating UAS industry jobs and attracting employees to North Dakota. In the article, Hambleton noted that Northrop Grumman expects to employ 100 people at Grand Sky by the end of this year.
To view current UAS job listings in North Dakota, visit jobsnd.com.
To read the entire National Defense article, click here.
