The Dragonflyer by Dragonfly Innovations, Inc., a rotary-wing drone representative of those being tested by the Department of Homeland Security in Oklahoma. - DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
This Lockheed Martin Stalker is representative of drones being tested for civilian uses near Fort Sill. Lockheed Martin Photo
A Lockheed Martin Stalker XE drone flies over the countryside. For at least the next year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will be testing the possible use of drones in the civilian world from a facility near Fort Sill. - LOCKHEED MARTIN
Wary eyes shift to the skies as unmanned aircraft are tested in state
Unmanned aircraft are being tested in Oklahoma for possible civilian uses, such as by police departments. But testing of the state-of-the-art crafts also has raised privacy concerns.
BY Phillip O’Connor
FORT SILL — The small, winged drone quietly soared overhead as SWAT team members closed in on a building at Fort Sill.
When a suspect sprinted from the structure, the drone banked through a cloudless afternoon sky in an effort to track the person.
A few miles away, two Lockheed Martin technicians sat in a converted bedroom of a ranch-style house using a laptop computer to control the drone’s movements.
