Hancock County, MS Selected as Homeland Security UAS Test Site

April 19, 2017

(Hancock County, MS) — The Department of Homeland Security selected Hancock County as one of the sites for a research and development project for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after a rigorous and highly competitive review process.

The DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has selected Mississippi as the new base of operations for small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS), and a Mississippi State-led partnership will oversee the initiative.

“Hancock County will be the epicenter for a great deal of the demonstration, including Stennis Space Center’s restricted airspace, Stennis International Airport and Port Bienville Industrial Park.  We are very excited to be in this collaboration with DHS and we see this as just another extension of the great cluster we are building around unmanned systems here on the coast,” said Bill Cork, CEO of the Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission.

The new DHS S&T Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Demonstration Range Facility will support homeland security operations and training by providing UAS flight and exercise support facilities that will support operational evaluation of UAS in a variety of applications and scenarios.

The Mississippi Partnership includes the Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission, the Mississippi National Guard’s Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center, the Mississippi Air National Guard’s Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center, NASA’s Stennis Space Center, and the Jackson County Port Authority.

The Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission was established in 1963 to lead the county’s economic development activities. Stennis International Airport and Port Bienville Industrial Park are home to more than 30 companies with 1,000 employees. For more information visit www.portairspace.com.