AeroVironment to Deploy Golden Dome at Grand Forks Air Force Base

- AeroVironment, Inc. has announced an expanded collaboration with GrandSKY, the nation's first commercial unmanned aerial system (UAS) business and aviation park, to establish the foundation of its Golden Dome for America limited area defense architecture at Grand Forks Air Force Base (AFB) in North Dakota.

Working with GrandSKY, AV will deploy its inner layer distributed counter-UAS (C-UAS) capabilities, the backbone of a layered defense architecture–designed to counter the growing threat of malicious UAS and aerial threats targeting the nation’s critical infrastructure at Grand Forks AFB.

Aligned with AV’s partnership with SNC for the Golden Dome for America initiative, this deployment will include the integration of AV’s Titan and Titan-SV RF-based platforms for long-range detection and identification, unified through the AV_Halo COMMAND software platform that fuses diverse sensor and surveillance data into a single, mission-ready operating picture for C-UAS and Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) airspace awareness.

“North Dakota is the premier location for developing both applications for unmanned aircraft and protections against the misuse of drone technology, and bringing AV’s counter-UAS system to GrandSKY accelerates the important work being done through initiatives like Project ULTRA,” said Senator John Hoeven (R-N.D.). “Counter-drone is a critical priority for the future of our nation’s defense. We’ve seen in Israel and Ukraine how drones are being used to wage war in new and dangerous ways. The capabilities and partnerships we’ve built in the Grand Forks region will enable our nation to tackle this emerging threat, and we appreciate AV for its growing commitment to GrandSKY and the important role its technology will play in these efforts.”

This collaboration builds on the March 2025 memorandum of understanding (MOU) between AV and GrandSKY in support of Project ULTRA, Hoeven’s $110 million public-private initiative to establish Grand Forks as the nation’s proving ground for advanced counter-UAS defense. Through this collaboration, AV has already integrated AV_Halo COMMAND Mission software, formerly VigilantHalo, into GrandSKY’s BVLOS flight operations, enhancing airspace awareness and control while expanding counter-UAS capacity at the 217-acre flight center.

“We’re excited to grow our relationship with AV. What started as a partnership to explore ground-based sense and avoid tools for UAS operations is now expanding to support multi-layered counter-UAS capabilities,” said Tom Swoyer, Jr., President at GrandSKY. “Deploying these technologies will give us a path to support a variety of UAS and Counter-UAS tests, operations and demonstrations. One of the most significant advantages we gain is the ability to collaborate closely with our partners at Grand Forks Air Force Base. Through Project ULTRA, we will explore and understand the comprehensive requirements needed to effectively defend against UAS threats and be better equipped to address the full range of challenges and ensure our nation’s domestic defenses capabilities are robust and adaptable.”

Photo: (left to right) Sen. John Hoeven joined Stephen Lloyd of AV and Tom Swoyer, Jr. of GrandSKY to celebrate the expansion of C-UAS capabilities at Grand Forks AFB on Monday, October 13, 2025, at the UAS Summit and Expo. [Credit: GrandSKY]

Source: AeroVironment, Inc.