Latrobe City Council has appointed Melbourne-based Yarra Drones to design and establish an Advanced Air Mobility Command Centre at Latrobe Regional Airport in Victoria's Gippsland region, backed by Victorian State Government funding.
The facility will form part of the Latrobe Aerospace Technology Precinct, which the council describes as Australia's first fully integrated site for advanced air mobility research, development, testing and evaluation. It will give operators a regulatory-aligned environment to research, test and evaluate drone and uncrewed aircraft technologies.
Latrobe's location, 1.5 hours from Melbourne with low population density testing corridors and access to established supply chains, makes it well suited to the role. Australia's drone sector is projected to deliver a $14.5 billion economic boost and create more than 5,500 jobs annually, and the council says the precinct is designed to attract a significant share of that opportunity.
"We are honoured to partner with Latrobe City Council to deliver this nationally significant AAM Command Centre," said Ravi Murty, founder and chief remote pilot of Yarra Drones. "The facility will provide a controlled, regulatory-aligned environment where national and international companies can develop, test, and trial uncrewed aircraft systems safely and efficiently."
Latrobe City Mayor Sharon Gibson welcomed the appointment, saying further investment in aerospace represented a major step toward creating local jobs and positioning the region in Australia's aviation future.