Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

By Dermot Cole
May 9th, 2010

Here is what UAF says about the UAF robotic air force, which is taking part in a statewide disaster training exercise:

One of the University of Alaska?s unmanned aircraft launched this afternoon in its second flight to support emergency personnel as part of the large statewide exercise dubbed Alaska Shield.

The unmanned aircraft, a 40-pound Insitu ScanEagle, is equipped to capture video from a high-resolution optical camera and send it back to exercise participants in real-time.

Because the aircraft is launched from a catapult and recaptured by hooking onto a rope, it requires no runway. This allows the aircraft to support operations where no flight line or flight deck is available.

The unmanned aircraft can provide immediate  The unmanned aircraft can provide immediate information to emergency responders so they may assess situations that pose a threat too dangerous for manned aircraft or for a ground-based response, such as a chemical spill or explosion.

The Alaska Shield exercise runs from April 26 to May 1, 2010. More than 4,000 participants from 51 organizations will take part in this joint exercise, including Alaska communities, the State of Alaska, Alaska National Guard, and Joint Task Force Alaska. The exercise tests emergency responders? ability to coordinate response activities after a major disaster. Exercise events take place in Anchorage, Valdez, Cordova, Unalaska, and the Mat-Su and Kenai Peninsula Boroughs.

Here is a video of one of UAF?s four robotic planes in action this week. The camera, like the plane, is controlled from the ground. The plane was flying at about 1,800 feet and about two miles from the highway when this was taken. The pilot was Greg Walker, the manager of the Poker Flat research range and the robot plane operation.

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