A recent news story in NJBIZ shined a spotlight on an ongoing NCMS collaboration with US Air Force Mobility Command (AMC) known as the Airfield Autonomy Initiative (AAI). According to the January 31, 2023, article, US Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) highlighted his state’s receipt of $13.3M in federal funding for airport technology projects that include AAI in a recent press conference at the Atlantic City Airport in Egg Harbor Township, NJ.

The funding, granted by the federal government spending bill passed by Congress in December, includes $5.2 million for projects at the Atlantic City Airport and $8.1 million for New Jersey Air National Guard projects.

The initial phase of AAI will take place at the National Aerospace Research and Technology Park (NARTP) at the airport. Additional AAI collaborators include the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center, the Atlantic County Economic Alliance, and several NCMS industry partners, which will work to develop the first-ever dual-use, airfield-specific autonomy command and control systems.

AMC launched AAI in 2022 to inexpensively and rapidly learn the requirements of a viable airfield automation command and control system that can enable the development of more airfield automation. Early goals will focus on developing automation for the simple tasks of lawn mowing, foreign object/debris (FOD) detection, and perimeter patrols for both security and wildlife management.

To see the entire NJBIZ story, visit: https://njbiz.com/ac-airport-projects-land-13-3m-in-federal-funding/. For more information on AAI, see: https://www.ncms.org/events/2022-aai/.