Virginia Tech celebrated the ribbon cutting of a new facility Friday that will develop technology that can detect and destroy hostile drones. The U.S. military is funding the research, which is part of the university’s National Security Institute.
Ten drones buzz in the sky overhead as a group of Virginia Tech faculty and officials gather to celebrate the launch of this new facility. Researchers will test and build technologies to help the U.S. military advance their defense against drones.
Eric Paterson directs Virginia Tech’s National Security Institute. He said other countries around the world are building similar technologies faster than the U.S.
“Very low-cost autonomous systems are being used in ways that currently, we have no effective, inexpensive ways to defeat,” Paterson said. “We’re using million-dollar missiles to shoot down $40,000 drones. And so that asymmetry is causing all sorts of problems for us as a country, and we have to solve it.”
Mark Warner, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, agrees with Paterson and said the U.S. could learn from technology that Ukraine has developed in recent years.
“We have seen the whole nature of warfare change. And this is an area where we need to catch up, where America is behind,” Warner said.
This facility is called the UAS Testing and Research Center. There are three laboratories, one is virtual, and their outdoor location is on Virginia Tech’s 2,000 acre research farm in Blacksburg. It’s a rural space, and the skies are relatively uncluttered. Cows graze in the distance and two deer run through a field. Test drones will not actually be blown up at Virginia Tech— that testing would take place at more high tech and secure locations hosted by the military.
The U.S. Army gave Virginia Tech $5 million to launch this research center. Austin Phoenix, Director of Mission Systems with VTNSI, said they’re expecting another $10 million from the military this year to help fund an expansion.
