Senator attends drone field day

BUTLERVILLE, Ind. — One of Indiana’s Republican U.S. senators attended the Indiana Spray Drone Association Education Day at the Southeast Purdue Ag Center in Jennings County.

The Indiana Spray Drone Association was created to help ensure aerial application by drone grows safely, professionally and responsibly across the state.

“Drones continue to be critical for the Hoosier ag industry, and Indiana’s new UAS test site will help ensure our drone ecosystem meets the industry’s growing needs,” said Sen. Todd Young.

Earlier this year, Indiana was named one of two new Federal Aviation Administration Unmanned Aerial System test sites.

These are the first new UAS testing grounds in nearly a decade.

“From delivering lifesaving medicine to surveying pipelines, drones are already reshaping industries and changing how people and products interact,” said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

“It’s our job to make sure the United States safely leads the way with this exciting technology — not China.

“We’ve added these new test sites to help us gather critical data and test new systems so we can safely unleash innovation in our skies.”

The FAA UAS test sites support the development, testing and scaling of American drone technologies.

Focus areas include Beyond Visual Line of Sight operations, increasingly autonomous operations, advanced air mobility and other advanced operations.