JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Navy will be flying armed unmanned drones from a remote piloting station at Naval Air Station Jacksonville as soon as 2016.
A new state-of-the-art, 8,983 square foot facility is currently being built to train drone operators.
Senator Bill Nelson is scheduled to inspect the under-construction facility and be briefed on the program on Monday. The senator, who is also a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, will also get to see an existing piloting center where training takes place for helicopters drones.
According to Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll this new technology will be beneficial to our local economy.
"We're looking at bringing jobs," said Carroll.
Currently ground and simulator training for the unmanned Fire Scout helicopter drones takes place at NAS Jacksonville.
It's the Navy's only training center for these kinds of helicopter drones.
Many fear the use of drones on U.S. soil will violate privacy laws with its high tech security cameras spying on people living here.
Lieutenant Governor Carroll tells Action News they are working on a master plan to deal with that issue.
"If any of those codes are broken we're looking at putting in place a fine and or completely ban that operator from operating in the state of Florida," said Carroll.
According to Senator Nelson law enforcement will not be trained to fly drones at the Navy's center.
The new facility will train operators to fly a second drone, called Triton, which will be used to scan oceans.
They will be able to cover as much as 2,000 nautical miles and take a closer look at suspicious ships.
