The U.S. Air Force and Easy Aerial have provided the Travis Air Force Base with a system that uses a small unarmed autonomous aircraft for perimeter security and monitoring.
The Smart Air Force Monitoring System is developed to ensure situational awareness by automatically launching from its base station and surveying the site where a security alarm was triggered, the military branch said Thursday.
Easy Aerial and the Air Force collaborated on the drone-based perimeter monitoring initiative under the second phase of the Small Business Innovation Research program.
"This was a joint effort as we worked closely together from start to finish, resulting in a customized solution for the Air Force that meets all of their operational desires and requirements," said Ivan Stamatovski, chief technology officer at Easy Aerial.
Air Force Master Sgt. Joshua Hicks, small unmanned aircraft system instructor of the 60th Security Forces Squadron, noted that aside from area survey and security, the drone is intended to boost the military's mission effectiveness.
"The sUAS has the capability to assist civil engineering for fire response, maintenance for tail inspections … and that is just the beginning," Hicks added.
Defending installations and networks is one of Air Mobility Command's focus areas announced by Air Force Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, commander of AMC, in October.