LANSING — Michigan’s National All Domain Warfighting Center has been selected as a key training facility for advanced uncrewed aerial systems, commonly known as drones, according to an announcement from State Rep. John Roth and the Department of War.
“Michigan stands ready to partner with Secretary Hegseth and the entire Department of War as we embrace this next generation of warfighting technologies,” Roth, R-Interlochen, said in a statement. “This decision ensures the long-term viability of our local bases and puts Michigan at the forefront of safeguarding our national defense.”
The selection follows a November 2025 letter signed by a bipartisan coalition of Michigan lawmakers urging Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to choose the Michigan site. In that letter, Roth wrote that the state is “uniquely positioned to advance the Pentagon’s drone capabilities and revitalize America’s drone infrastructure.”
In June 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling on the federal government to “Unleash American Drone Dominance.” In carrying out that order, Hegseth, along with the Army and National Guard Bureau, selected Michigan’s center for consistently demonstrating “its critical role in supporting the nation’s UAS and counter-UAS initiatives,” according to the release.
Roth said the training center is anchored by Camp Grayling and the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center and cited several factors he said supported the decision.
Those reasons included nearly 148,000 acres of four-season training terrain and 17,000 square miles of special use military airspace, including over Lake Huron, to support large-scale exercises year-round, according to the release.
Roth also pointed to what the release described as all-domain training and testing capabilities across land, air, maritime, cyber, and space, with facilities supporting live-fire artillery, tank, and mortar ranges, air-to-air maneuvers, maritime and littoral operations, cyber defense and electronic warfare, and space-based ISR integration.
The release said the center also includes a dedicated 60-mile drone corridor, emerging counter-UAV technologies, and a Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight system for autonomous drone operations. It cited the region’s clean electromagnetic spectrum and up to 6,000 available frequencies as an ideal environment for advanced UAS testing.
Roth’s statement also referenced partnerships through the Kelly Johnson Joint All-Domain Innovation Center, along with collaborations with academia and private sector innovators. The release said the site hosts major exercises such as Northern Strike and technology events such as Silent Swarm, where companies test and refine emerging systems in real-world conditions.
The release said the center’s status as a National Guard facility provides what it described as permissive, cost-effective access for public and private stakeholders to rent space and access ranges at a fraction of the cost and wait time of other sites. It also cited proximity to manufacturing centers and venture capital networks as an advantage in moving technologies from prototype to fielded capability.