North Carolina: First in Flight? Or First in Drones?

According to the Department of Defense Report to Congress on Future Unmanned Aircraft Systems Training, Operations, and Sustainability (April 2012), North Carolina has four locations that have been designated as potential basing locations for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) [i.e. drones] (p. 8 ff.).

The table below gives information on the types of drones that are proposed for basing at each location.

BASE	Predator/Reaper type	Shadow/Raven type	Other
Fort Bragg	MQ-1B, MQ-1C, MQ-9A	RQ-11B, RQ-7B	Wasp, Puma, Viking
MCB Camp Lejune		RQ-11B, RQ--21B	Wasp
MCALF Bogue		RQ-21A, RQ-7B
MCAS Cherry Point		RQ-21A, RQ-7B

NOTE: The report states, "Active FAA COAs allow the transit of VMU-2 aircraft through uncontrolled airspace from the MCAS Cherry Point class "D" surface area to the Restricted Area R5306CID, and from the NAS Fallon class "D" surface area to the surrounding restricted areas. A ground based sense and avoid (GBSAA) solution is currently being evaluated by the FAA to support the 6 nm transit at Cherry Point. However, a network of 14 ground-based observers is still required to comply with the COA while the evaluation is ongoing." (p. 23/4)

Will we see drones flying in the skies of North Carolina soon?