ResilienX, an uncrewed aviation company, and other stakeholders are looking into use cases within the Battle Creek community during the initial stages for the project.
“The beyond visual line of site system (BVLOS) being developed by ResilienX will enable remote and autonomous vehicles to operate in Battle Creek,” said Robert Corder, vice president of attraction at Battle Creek Unlimited.
“This new infrastructure will be valuable addition and help us to attract new advanced air mobility companies,” Corder said.
ResilienX said it works in other communities where drones are being used for:
- Medical delivery and logistics
- Package delivery
- First Response
- Aerial Photography
- Building inspections
- Land surveys
- Agriculture
Setting up infrastructure for scalable “beyond visual line of sight” (BVLOS) is the goal of the MICH-AIR effort. Operators will not fly in Battle Creek without it, officials said.
Beyond visual line of sight refers to flying a drone out of the sight of the operator.
Battle Creek Unlimited has been working on MICH-AIR for several years, Corder said.
As the economic development organization for the city of Battle Creek, BCU’s mission is creating jobs and attracting corporate investment.
“With regard to MICH-AIR, our goal is to leverage the community’s assets and bring a new industry to Battle Creek,” Corder said.
Organizers believe Battle Creek is the right fit.
The Battle Creek Executive Airport is home to WMU’s College of Aviation, where they train pilots and airframe / propulsion mechanics. The Michigan Air National Guard’s 110th Wing is also based at BTL, where it has a remote drone operations mission flying MQ-9s, he said.
Duncan Aviation, a maintenance/repair/overhaul providers, is located at the airport and employs more than 800 people there, he said.
In addition, there are two manufacturers with facilities at BTL: Waco Aircraft, which manufactures a reproduction biplane; and its sister company Junkers Aircraft, which is completing its new manufacturing facility, where they will make a reproduction 1930s sport plane.
BTL has more than 200 acres inside the airport fence available for development.
Battle Creek will be the first community in Michigan to have this kind of capability, he said.
The long-term goal in Battle Creek is to bring the next-generation aviation to the city, Corder said.
This includes electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft, as well as autonomous and remotely piloted vehicles.
“We want the vehicles to be manufactured in Battle Creek,” he said, as well as maintained and repaired here.
We want the operations to be here, whether that is cargo & freight, public safety & first responder applications, inspection & surveillance, agriculture, even urban air mobility.
Battle Creek could also be a training site for companies to train operators.
“This is a new sector that is poised to take off,” he said. “Jobs in the advance air mobility space are high skilled and high paying, and a great fit for Battle Creek.”
The system is designed to be scalable across Michigan and beyond, with deployment underway and operations expected within one year, Corder said.
ResilienX is based in Syracuse, New York.
In Southeast Michigan, Amazon is testing drone deliveries with plans to bring the system to the Detroit area.
©2026 Advance Local Media LLC, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
