Vigilant Aerospace Supports National Guard Emergency Management Exercise at Camp Grafton

DEVILS LAKE, N.D., June 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Vigilant Aerospace Systems recently supported a National Guard emergency management exercise at Camp Grafton Training Center near Devils Lake, North Dakota, using its FlightHorizon TEMPO and FlightHorizon DEFENDER systems to help participating agencies track crewed and uncrewed aircraft in real time. The exercise brought together public safety agencies, military personnel, federal observers and staff from the University of North Dakota school of Aerospace Sciences.

FlightHorizon TEMPO and DEFENDER were integrated with multiple radars and transponder receivers to display a real-time 3D map of all aircraft. The systems supported search-and-rescue scenarios involving fixed-wing aircraft, rotary-wing aircraft, small drones, simulated aircraft and ground response teams.

"As we work together with federal, state, local and tribal first responders, it was great to have support from Vigilant Aerospace," said Paul Snyder, assistant chair and director of Uncrewed Aircraft System Programs for the UND John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences. Snyder said the integration provided greater situational awareness for traffic management between crewed and uncrewed aircraft.

The demonstration supported UND Aerospace's efforts to build a common operating picture across participating agencies, aircraft and first responders. For emergency managers, aircraft deconfliction is critical when helicopters, drones and ground teams converge around an incident. Agencies need real-time airspace awareness to reduce collision risk and coordinate aircraft launch, recovery, and flight path decisions.

FlightHorizon TEMPO provides airspace management, integrating radar, transponders, drone beacons, and autopilot telemetry. FlightHorizon DEFENDER is a portable counter-UAS system (C-UAS) designed to alert operators when aircraft enter protected areas and to distinguish between known and unknown aircraft.

"We believe the future of aviation is a mix of crewed and uncrewed aircraft operating in close coordination with teams on the ground. FlightHorizon provides the real-time visualization and alerting to make this coordination a safe and practical reality," said Kraettli L. Epperson, CEO of Vigilant Aerospace.

For additional information, contact River Cordova at [email protected] or (405) 445-7224.

ABOUT VIGILANT AEROSPACE SYSTEMS

Vigilant Aerospace is the leading independent developer of multi-sensor detect-and-avoid and airspace management software for uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS or drones). The company's product, FlightHorizon, is based on two NASA patents and uses multi-source data to display a real-time picture of the air traffic around a UAS and to provide automatic avoidance maneuvers to prevent collisions. Vigilant Aerospace is based in Oklahoma City.

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SOURCE Vigilant Aerospace Systems