Carl Denslow was describing some of the work Denslow Cattle Corporation finds itself around when talking to Alamosa County Commissioners this week about a special use permit. The Denslow Cattle Corporation was requesting approval of a special use permit that would allow it to use its Alamosa County facility for aerospace engineering research and development and general manufacturing work.
For example, said Denslow, there are defense contractors that are customers of Denslow Cattle Corporation interested in a counter UAS system, or an unmanned aerial system that is designed to defeat another UAS. In other words, drone warfare.
It’s that type of R&D work the Denslow Cattle Corporation will find itself in.
“It adds diversity to what is offered in the San Luis Valley and Alamosa County,” Commissioner Lori Laske said. And with that, the three commissioners unanimously approved the special use permit and the Valley now has a small firm conducting research and development for a drone world.
The company operates about eight miles east of Alamosa on 300-plus acres that it describes as a “sUAS test ranch” that has facilities for “limited prototype manufacturing focused on providing rapid elevation of concepts.” Included on the property is a 3,500-foot dirt landing strip; Denslow holds a federal firearms manufacturing license to assist in the work.
With war in Ukraine and a threat of growing Middle East violence, the work of Denslow Cattle Corporation comes at an opportune time. One area of focus for the company is the design of firearms silencers for a UAS.
“We do have a lot of different customers for the things that we work on, and that’s something that has got an interest lately, a counter UAS system, meaning a UAS designed to defeat another UAS,” Carl Denslow said.
“So if someone is flying a drone into Ukraine, for instance, and you need something that is going to stop that drone from getting in, you have a counter UAS system. Something people have shown an interest in is a firearm mounted to a UAS and that’s part of why we have the FFL (federal firearms license), is to be able to do that design work, that engineering work, and that prototyping work.”
Denslow and partner Eileen Kim have backgrounds in aviation and automation. Their work consists of writing software and engineering design, and testing small engines to collect test data for their projects.
“All around aviation autonomy,” Denslow said.