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Col. Greg Semmel speaks to the media Monday about the expansion of airspace in which the military can test drones. Behind him is an MQ-9 Reaper, one of the drones.

(Ellen M. Blalock | eblalock@syracuse.com)

Syracuse, N.Y. - Drones have been approved for training flights over parts of Onondaga, Madison and Oswego counties, military officials announced today.

The remotely operated MQ-9 Reapers have already been flying over a large swath of northern New York since October 2011. The Federal Aviation Administration has recently expanded that air space further south to include some of Central New York's most densely populated regions.

Pilots from the 174th Attack Wing, the Air National Guard unit based at Hancock Field, operate drones over a region that stretches west from the Adirondacks to north and west of Rochester. The new approval will stretch the zone south to cover additional parts of Onondaga, Madison and Oswego counties.

The extra airspace - which stretches down to Syracuse, west to Camillus and east to Madison County - will give training officers more flexibility around Central New York's notoriously erratic weather, said Col. Greg Semmel, commander of the 174th Attack Wing. This will save the government money by reducing the number of delayed or canceled training exercises, he said.

The drones, which launch from Fort Drum near Watertown, do not carry live ammunition, Semmel said.



At a news conference, Semmel praised the drone's safety record and said the new air space would improve the efficiency of the Air National Guard's training operation.

"The flights have been highly successful and are critically important" for training drone operators who provide aerial cover for American soldiers at war, Semmel said.

The drones can also be used to gather information about natural disasters at the governor's request, Semmel said.

"There are so many opportunities to use this bird to help the citizens of New York," said Semmel, who spoke in front of a Reaper drone and American flag at the Hancock Field Air National Guard Base.

Nonetheless, Semmel promised that the drones would never be used for surveillance on citizens, saying their operations are carefully limited by federal laws.

This map shows the air spaces approved for drone training flights. Military officials announced today that the southernmost border has also been approved for drones.

"We will never perform targeted surveillance on any New Yorker or any other U.S. citizen during our training missions," Semmel said.

The 174th Attack Wing's four drones will not be used for local law enforcement either, Semmel said. Semmel's office referred questions about if the drones would be used at the Canadian border to the Department of Homeland Security.

Asked how Central New Yorkers would react to the drones' presence in their area, Semmel noted that the training missions take place 18,000 feet in the air.

"They will very likely never see the airplane," Semmel said.

The airspace at 18,000 feet will be restricted to the drones, and will be off limits to all commercial aircraft flying passengers or freight through Central New York.