The service's Corps of Engineers at Fort Worth, Texas, has awarded a $33 million contract to SGS to build a 150-acre unmanned aircraft launch and recovery complex at Fort Bliss for Gray Eagle and Shadow UAS.

The complex will include a 50,000-square-foot unmanned aircraft maintenance hangar and more than a mile of runways, aprons, and taxiways, according to an announcement from the company. The runways will include a 5,000-foot runway for the Gray Eagle and a 1,000-foot runway for the smaller Shadow. In addition to maintenance shops, administrative space and storage space in the hangar, the facilities also will have a 5-ton bridge crane, oil/water separator, aircraft container and forklift storage, taxiway, access apron, oil and hazardous waste storage buildings, vehicle storage facilities, organizational vehicle parking, and overhead protection/canopy.

The airport will be fenced and secured, and the Army said all operations will take place in restricted airspace.

The Army's 25-year roadmap for unmanned systems, released in 2010, calls for integrating UAS across the full spectrum of military operations. Fort Bliss, which hosts the 1st Armored Division and accommodates a variety of ground vehicles, along with Apache and Black Hawk helicopters, will now be adding the Gray Eagle and Shadow.