The base of operations for Ohio's and Indiana's joint effort to win a test site for unmanned drone aircraft will be based in Springfield.
The Ohio Department of Transportation will manage the Ohio/Indiana Unmanned Aerial Systems Center and Test Complex at a leased site. Officials hope creating the complex will bolster the two states' efforts to win one of six test sites for drones being created nationally this year by the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA will use the sites to gather safety and privacy data needed before drones are allowed into manned airspace in 2015. Two dozen applicants representing 23 states are competing for the six test sites.