Army Opens Camp Atterbury and Muscatatuck for Commercial Drone Testing
The Army announced on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, that it designated Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center and the Muscatatuck Training Center in Indiana as premier, permissive sites where commercial companies can test drone and counter-drone technology, acting Army Secretary Adam Telle’s office said. The move enlarges the Army’s Permissive Test Range Expansion Initiative and shortens a path that US drone startups have long called too slow. Here is what the Army drone testing expansion opens up and how companies can get access.
Key Takeaways:
- – Camp Atterbury and Muscatatuck, both in Indiana, are the newest sites open for commercial drone and counter-drone testing.
- – Camp Atterbury offers more than 34,000 acres with dedicated restricted airspace up to 40,000 feet; Muscatatuck is a 1,000-acre urban testing site with configurable infrastructure.
- – Vendors request access through testrange.army.mil, and an ATEC concierge team schedules the test window.
- – The initiative also includes Camp Grayling (Michigan), Dugway (Utah), West Cibola Range (Arizona), Camp Shelby (Mississippi), and AMTEC (Morocco).
- – The push began under former Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who said test access previously took 12 to 18 months.
What changed and why the Army drone testing push exists
The Army labeled the two Indiana installations premier, permissive sites available for commercial testing of drone and counter-drone systems, per the Army’s announcement and DefenseScoop’s October 28 report. The Permissive Test Range Expansion Initiative aims to fix a complaint nearly every defense-tech founder repeats: the gap between having working hardware and getting a government range to validate it. Dan Driscoll, before resigning as Army secretary, framed the problem bluntly. Sometimes it can take 12 to 18 months for a company that wants to test the thing that can make a soldier’s life better, he said in August; that, in his view, was not sufficient. The initiative’s answer is standing access: ready-to-book ranges with the safety infrastructure already cleared for uncrewed flights.
Timing matters for budget reasons too. Congress and the Pentagon have poured tens of billions into drones and counter-drone since the conflicts in Europe and the Middle East demonstrated that cheap massed drones and the tools to stop them now decide outcomes. Procurement pipelines cannot buy technology that has not been validated, and test access is the first turn of that valve.
What each site offers drone and counter-drone companies
The two Indiana sites complement each other deliberately. Camp Atterbury provides more than 34,000 acres of secure space with a dedicated restricted airspace corridor extending up to 40,000 feet, per the Army release, which is room for long-range flights and high-altitude sensor work without negotiating each flight with air traffic control. The Muscatatuck Training Center is a different instrument: a 1,000-acre developmental testing site with configurable urban infrastructure, allowing testing of drone and counter-drone navigation and tracking systems inside complex physical structures, per the release. That is where a drone that navigates sewers and stairwells gets proven, and where counter-drone tools get exercised against real urban clutter.
For companies, the unlock is scheduling rather than construction. Once a request is submitted through testrange.army.mil, a dedicated Army Test and Evaluation Command concierge team works with the vendor and the Indiana National Guard to coordinate testing schedules and requirements, per the release. The Army cautions that a submitted request does not guarantee the desired location or timeline because of capacity limits, but the concierge model means a US startup can plan a test campaign in weeks and months rather than waiting the better part of two years.
Why a US drone industry wants this now
The counter-drone market is young and competitive, filled with jamming, radar, gun- and net-based interceptors, and AI-enabled detection systems, and the Army has already run separate large procurement pushes to field internationally proven systems. Homegrown mid-tier companies say the bottleneck is validation: without credible military test records, they cannot win funding, insurance credibility, or programs of record. Making Army ranges commercially bookable converts that private hardware surplus into something the acquisition system can evaluate.
It also builds an industrial base ahead of potential demand. The Army’s test-range map now stretches from the Great Lakes to Utah and Arizona to Mississippi, with the Morocco-based AMTEC offering an overseas venue; locating premier sites in the Indiana National Guard’s footprint also puts testing near a Midwest manufacturing corridor that drone and sensor companies can serve by road. Expect local economies around these ranges to court drone suppliers the way Air Force towns court flight-test businesses.
How the initiative fits Pentagon acquisition strategy
The test-range push is one leg of a broader shift in how the military sources aerial capability, alongside multi-year production deals, streamlined procurement pathways for software-defined hardware, and direct awards to nontraditional vendors. The through-line is speed: officials concluded that the legacy test-and-evaluation calendar, built for billion-dollar missile programs, kills small-dollar drone innovation, so they are building a parallel path where commercial hardware can prove itself on government ranges quickly and be bought in quantity if it works.
There are standing caveats. Capacity limits are real, and a surge of applicants could still stretch scheduling; the concierge team manages expectations but does not promise dates. Security and export-control rules still apply to foreign vendors and to anything with classified components, and permissive does not mean unregulated. Companies should bring their own data-collection plans and legal clarity on what data the government will see.
What happens next
Watch three things through 2027. First, the first round of commercially tested systems graduating into procurement vehicles, something US drone founders have described as the missing proof point for private investment. Second, whether the initiative adds more sites, since its existing footprint spans six states plus Morocco and each new location multiplies the scheduling capacity for the industry. Third, Congress: sustained test access depends on continued funding for range operations and for the ATEC concierge function, and budget fights in 2027 will test whether the initiative becomes permanent.
For US drone and counter-UAS companies, the action item is concrete: register at testrange.army.mil, submit a scoping request, and start the conversation with the concierge team early, because as more vendors discover the pipeline, slots will tighten.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which sites are open for commercial drone testing?
The initiative includes Camp Atterbury and Muscatatuck in Indiana plus Camp Grayling (Michigan), Dugway Proving Ground (Utah), the West Cibola Range (Arizona), Camp Shelby (Mississippi), and AMTEC in Morocco, with the Indiana additions designated October 28, 2026.
How does a company get an Army test slot?
Submit a request through testrange.army.mil; the Army Test and Evaluation Command concierge team then works with the vendor and local Guard units to schedule testing, within capacity limits.
What can be tested at the new Indiana sites?
Drone and counter-drone systems of many kinds: Camp Atterbury’s 34,000 acres and 40,000-foot restricted airspace suit long-range flight and sensor testing, while Muscatatuck’s 1,000-acre configurable urban environment is built for navigation, tracking, and counter-drone work in complex structures.
Sources:
- https://www.army.mil/article-amp/296390/army_expands_test_range_initiative_to_indiana_national_guard_sites_boosting_commercial_drone_testing_options
- https://defensescoop.com/2026/10/28/army-test-range-access-commercial-vendors-drone-technology/
- https://www.stripes.com/branches/army/2026-10-28/army-sites-commercial-drone-testing-23291497.html
- https://www.banks.senate.gov/news/press-releases/banks-announces-camp-atterbury-and-muscatatuck-designated-premier-test-ranges/
