A Florida company is partnering with a Wahpeton company to manufacture unmanned aerial vehicles in North Dakota.
"This agreement represents an important milestone in our ongoing work to grow North Dakota's UAS industry," said Gov. Jack Dalrymple at a state Capitol ceremony. "We want to become a national hub for UAS manufacturing, research and development."
Altavian (al-TAVE-ee-un) will manufacture the UAVs at ComDel’s Wahpeton facility. Company officials say the partnership will create between 4 and 15 manufacturing jobs, as well as 4 to 10 administrative jobs.
"It's a rugged product," said Altavian COO Thomas Rambo. "We cut our teeth in the swamps of Florida, the Everglades, Mississippi. This will be the first time we've come up in the cold."
Rambo sale the unmanned aircraft can be used in agricultural applications, as well as in the energy industry.
"At its heart, this is a data collection platform," said Rambo. "We can do mapping, pictures, video -- but at its core, it is a mapping platform."
North Dakota has been designated as a national UAV test site.