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HILLSBORO, N.D. (AP) - A 20-foot-long drone that was brought to North Dakota to test precision agriculture methods is now part of a trial run to see if can help crews restore power to areas hit by natural disasters.
The Israeli-manufactured Elbit Systems Hermes 450 aircraft can cover 40,000 acres in an hour and fly up to 17 hours before refueling. Officials involved in the Xcel Energy test program say the larger drone's ability to cover more ground, collect more data and fly at night is expected to help the company move crews, materials and equipment quickly and safely.
"When you have a storm, when you have fires, getting crews on the ground to identify damage is flat-out dangerous," Raanan Horowitz, president and CEO of Elbit Systems of America, said Monday when the drone was shown off to public officials at an airport in Hillsboro, about 35 miles north of Fargo.