PENDLETON — The unmanned aerial system test range in Pendleton received approval to buy a half-million dollar mobile command center.

The Pendleton City Council in December gave the Unmanned Aerial Systems Range the green light to spend $500,000 to purchase the mobile command center from Skyward, a subsidiary of telecom giant Verizon. According to a staff report, the command center was custom-built for Verizon but would have been much more expensive if bought new by the city. Drone range customers have used mobile command centers in the past to give them an operational base while working in remote areas.

During the City Council meeting Tuesday, Jan. 4, Darryl Abling, the range manager, said there was high demand for these types of vehicles on the range. The airport already rents out two command centers to Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing that runs testing operations in Pendleton.

In the staff report, Economic Development Director Steve Chrisman wrote that Verizon’s vehicle will enhance safety at the airport because it could use the company’s cellular network to increase awareness of other aircraft in the sky.

While $500,000 is a fairly big line item for many city budgets, Chrisman assured the council that it would pay for itself.

“This is not a CARES Act eligible purchase,” he wrote, referring to a previous round of federal COVID-19 aid. “However, acquisition of the (mobile command center) will bring with it new range contracts that will generate new revenue in excess of the (vehicle’s) purchase price within the next 12 months. The (vehicle) will more than pay for itself in 12 months, and should continue to generate airport revenue for many years.”

While the equipment was custom-built in Montana for use by Verizon in its own drone testing, Abling said the vehicle is easily adaptable and is a “turnkey” asset for the range to offer to its customers.

Even as previous tenants such as Airbus and PAE have moved on in years past, the drone range continues to attract high-profile customers. Chrisman wrote that range staff anticipate Verizon will be a long-term customer at the range, and Amazon recently confirmed that it was doing some testing in Pendleton as well.

And while Airbus has long moved on from Project Vahana, its attempt to prototype an unmanned passenger vehicle, a memento of its time in Pendleton has remained. Abling said Airbus recently donated its model of Project Vahana to the UAS range and the vehicle will go on display at the range.