Oklahoma aerospace director asks for recurring funds, outlines UAS test sites and hangar investments

Director Ardies, head of the Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics, told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government and Transportation that his agency is seeking a $1 million recurring increase for pro-growth airport infrastructure and a $1 million recurring increase for unmanned aircraft systems and advanced air mobility (UAS/AAM) infrastructure for fiscal 2026.

Ardies said aerospace and defense is the state’s second-largest industry, citing an earlier study that put annual economic impact at about $44 billion, and outlined four agency priorities: airport infrastructure, industry support and legislative advocacy, aerospace education, and integration of new technologies including UAS and advanced air mobility. “It’s coming. It’s coming sooner rather than later,” Ardies said when asked about commercial drone delivery.

The agency told the committee it has begun programming prior appropriations and one-time federal funds. Since fiscal 2022 appropriations and federal ARPA/PREP dollars, Ardies said the agency has enabled work on roughly 25 hangar projects, 10 terminals, nine fuel-system projects and 10 taxi-lane projects with an expanded total of about 47 hangars when PREP funds are included. He said the agency received roughly $100 million through PREP as part of a broader $250 million statewide package in fall 2022 and that FY24 grant draws for airport projects totaled about $16 million; FY25 draws to date were “just shy of $20 million.”

On UAS/AAM, Ardies described three planned investments the agency has programmed or committed: about $2.5 million for Clinton-Sherman UAS test-range radar infrastructure, about $2.5 million for planning and initial investment at a Camp Gruber National Guard site, and about $3.0 million for a Tulsa proposal focused on drone first-responder and commercial UAS testing activities. He said the Camp Gruber funding is currently in a master-planning phase for a 300–400 acre UAS testing parcel.

Ardies also reviewed progress on statewide aviation education and workforce development: Oklahoma now offers an AOPA four-year “You Can Fly” curriculum in roughly 117 schools, and he estimated 7,000–8,000 students are enrolled in aviation-related programs statewide. He said the agency awarded nearly $750,000 in competitive aero education grants from a $2 million education pot enabled by recent appropriations.

Committee members pressed on program details and sequencing. Senator Standridge asked whether the National Guard could provide funding to the agency; Ardies answered that the agency has not yet given money to the Guard but has programmed $2.5 million for planning and initial work and that the Guard could contribute in coordination as projects crystallize. Senator Weaver asked whether state rules are delaying projects; Ardies said the biggest practical constraint is the contractor market—projects are often “not big enough” to attract large highway contractors yet too large for small local contractors, creating scheduling and capacity issues.

Ardies described the agency’s FY26 operating request as a small shift to recurring funding rather than new one-time projects. “We’re asking for a bump up in our recurring monies, $1,000,000 on the airport growth infrastructure investment and $1,000,000 on the unmanned aircraft systems and advanced air mobility infrastructure,” he told the committee, adding that the agency had no one-time money in its formal request but would welcome future PREP-like rounds for large projects.

The presentation closed with maps and handouts showing the location and status of projects funded through recurring appropriations and PREP/ARPA dollars, and Ardies stood for committee questions.