Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operational Test, Evaluation, and Training Corridor Act

Defense drone test and training corridors

This bill would require the Secretary of Defense to set up one or more test and training corridors for small drones and counter‑drone systems inside the national airspace. The Department could build new facilities or use existing DoD sites to support these corridors. Corridors would support research, testing, and training on six functions, including drone autonomy, kinetic and nonkinetic counter‑UAS tools (like high‑power microwaves, high‑energy lasers, and electronic warfare), counter‑UAS weapons and low collateral damage munitions, modular payload integration, faster fielding of drone‑enabled munitions, and standardizing payload interfaces. The Secretary would coordinate site selection with the Test Resource Management Center and military department Secretaries. Site assessments would identify needed construction, personnel, sensors, and ways to simulate degraded or denied communications, GPS, and spectrum. Not later than 90 days after establishing a corridor, the Secretary would notify the congressional defense committees with the corridor location, required resources, and any interagency agreements needed to operate safely in the national airspace.