After Bipartisan Effort Led by Slotkin, Army Selects Grayling as Part of Initiative to Push Drone Testing and Research

Michigan Selected for New Army Industry Testing Initiative – One of Only Four Sites Nationwide 
 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) joined the U.S. Army in announcing that the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC), in partnership with the Michigan National Guard and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), has selected Camp Grayling and the National All-Domain Warfighting Center (NADWC) as one of five premiere military test ranges in the world, and one of four in the United States being opened to private industry to accelerate research, development, and rapid experimentation for emerging defense technologies like drones. 

“This is an important win for Michigan, selected as one of only four sites nationwide, that helps our role in developing, testing and building new tech for the U.S. Army,” said Slotkin. “Opening Camp Grayling to collaborate with private industry means manufacturers, startups, and engineers – of all sizes — will get a direct line to the Army. This will bring companies from across the nation to Michigan to test their systems against the same conditions we are seeing on the battlefield in Ukraine right now. And they’ll be doing it with American supply chains and American workers.” 

Slotkin, Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) and U.S. Representative Jack Bergman (R-MI-01), plus other members across the Michigan Congressional Delegation have supported efforts to establish Camp Grayling and NADWC as a national hub for drone testing and defense innovation, including in a joint letter to the Secretary of Defense in July of 2025. Read that letter here. 

The initiative gives companies access to specialized environments for testing drones, counter-drone systems, long-range fires, and low-cost interceptors, and is designed to eliminate the red tape between the Army and commercial innovators, so that new technologies can be developed and fielded faster. 

“A company with a good idea shouldn’t need a team of lawyers and a program of record just to prove their equipment works,” said Army Secretary Dan Driscoll. “So we fixed that. One front door — testrange.army.mil — a real person to walk you in, and on the other side, everything the modern battlefield demands: contested airspace, degraded signals and the space to test at real scale.” 

Slotkin continues to champion Michigan as a center of defense manufacturing and innovation, as laid out by her Future of Defense Manufacturing Act. Camp Grayling’s proximity to large-scale manufacturing centers, private sector drone innovators, and national transportation hubs make it a centrally located, all-in-one destination for the Army’s growing partnership with industry. 
 
More about the announcement: 

• The U.S. Army is opening five premier military test ranges to private industry to accelerate research, development, and rapid experimentation on emerging defense technologies. Led by the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) in partnership with the Michigan National Guard and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), the initiative provides companies with access to specialized environments for testing drones, counter-drone systems, long-range fires, and low-cost interceptors at Dugway Proving Ground (Utah), West Cibola Range at Yuma Proving Ground (Arizona), Camp Grayling (Michigan), Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center (Mississippi,) and the African Multidomain Training and Experimentation Center (AMTEC) in Morocco. 

• The initiative is designed to reduce barriers between the Army and commercial innovators, enabling faster development and fielding of technologies such as drones, counter-drone systems, long-range fires, and low-cost interceptors. 

• The Army will also host a special electromagnetic unreliability test event for private industry at Camp Grayling during the week of Sept. 13, 2026. This environment will mimic the contested electronic warfare conditions currently seen on the battlefield in Ukraine, offering industry a rare opportunity to harden their drone and counter-drone systems. The Army anticipates this opportunity will be repeated on a quarterly basis. 

• Today, the Army has launched a portal, testrange.army.mil, which serves as a digital front door for industry. Companies can easily request range time and will be paired with a dedicated concierge who will assist them through the scheduling processes. Private industry does not need to have a prior government contract or existing federal relationship to submit a request. 

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