Chippewa County completes digital airspace test for advanced drone operations
Chippewa County has completed live drone demonstrations using digital airspace systems for complex beyond-line-of-sight operations. The flights closed the live demonstration phase of the Chippewa County Drone Project, a 12-month effort funded through Michigan’s Office of Future Mobility and Electrification and the Michigan Mobility Funding Platform. The demonstrations, conducted during the week of June 15 to 18, showed how digital airspace infrastructure can support advanced UAS missions in dense operating environments near airports, critical infrastructure and an international border.
The project brought together ANRA Technologies, the Chippewa County Economic Development Corporation and partners from the utility, aviation, research, security and technology sectors. ANRA supplied an FAA-approved UAS Traffic Management platform and a Single Integrated Operational Picture for airspace coordination and situational awareness. Censys Technologies flew infrastructure inspection missions, Michigan Tech Research Institute supported aerial inspection work at the Tower of History and rail research activities, and Cloverland Electric Cooperative enabled utility inspection demonstrations at its St. Marys Falls Hydropower Plant.
The demonstration also tested security-focused operations around sensitive sites. Lighthouse Avionics and Guardian RF deployed optical and radio-frequency detection systems at the Kinross Correctional Facility and the hydropower site, allowing cooperative and non-cooperative aircraft to be monitored through ANRA’s shared operating picture. RIIS LLC conducted flight operations around the correctional facility to validate aircraft detection, identification and tracking, while CCEDC and Precision Approach coordinated regional stakeholder engagement and overall project execution.
A key milestone was securing the approvals needed to conduct UAS operations in one of Michigan’s more complicated flight environments. Flights near the Kinross Correctional Facility required approval from the facility’s warden and close coordination with the FAA and Nav Canada because of the site’s proximity to Chippewa County International Airport and the U.S.–Canada border. The project also conducted demonstration flights adjacent to the drone no-fly zone protecting the Soo Locks, showing how cooperative flight data, RF sensing and optical detection can be fused into a common operating picture that helps authorities distinguish approved operators from unknown aircraft.
The results create a commercially proven foundation for expanding advanced drone operations across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The project showed that commercial drone missions, public safety operations, critical infrastructure inspections and near-border surveillance needs can coexist when managed through a unified digital ecosystem. Its broader impact is to strengthen Chippewa County’s case as a regional hub for investment, skilled jobs, new drone services, public safety capability and advanced air mobility development in Michigan.