A defining asset.
Restricted Airspace R-4601
LHITC facilitates vetted access and deconfliction for partners conducting work in R-4601, the restricted area near Townsend. Coordination is mission-aligned and proximate to the campus.
Read more →Limestone Hills Innovation & Test Campus
Montana's multi-domain proving ground for emerging capabilities.
A neutral, Montana-based 501(c)(6) enabling integration, testing, training, and technology acceleration across air, land, maritime, cyber, and space domains.
The concierge model
One trusted Montana partner. Statewide reach.
LHITC coordinates testing, training, and integration across multiple campus locations, Special Use Airspace, and over 5 million acres of interconnected private and public lands. One point of contact, end-to-end.
- Multiple campus and partner locations across Montana
- Special Use Airspace, including Restricted Airspace R-4601 near Townsend
- Coordinated access across private and public landholdings
- Coordinated land
- 5M+ acres
- Special use airspace
- R-4601
- Statewide reach
- Multi-site
- Engagement model
- One contact
The 120-acre innovation campus
A purpose-built innovation campus near Montana's air corridors and public lands.
120 acres under development for in-residence testing, training, and integration. The on-site build-out houses facilities purpose-built to drive innovation.
Strategically located
Minutes from Restricted Airspace R-4601, adjacent to public lands, and within reach of regional airports.
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SOF Shoot Houses
Reconfigurable structures purpose-designed with operator input.
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Environmental Chamber
Repeatable thermal, humidity, and altitude conditioning for hardware under test.
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On-Site Lodging
Resident accommodations so test teams stay focused on the mission, not logistics.
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Business & Program Offices
Workspace for partners, integrators, and visiting program leadership.
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Integration & Test Bays
Open spans for system integration, payload swaps, and pre-mission rehearsal.
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Secure Briefing & Planning
Vetted spaces for mission planning and after-action review.
Build-out phasing
The campus build-out advances in three phases. Specific dates and scope will be published as commitments are finalized.
Phase 1
Site preparation and core infrastructure
TODO(content): scope and target window for utilities, access roads, and site clearing.
Phase 2
Initial operating facilities
TODO(content): scope for the first SOF shoot house, integration bays, and program offices.
Phase 3
Full campus build-out
TODO(content): scope for environmental chamber, lodging, and secure briefing spaces.
Core capabilities
Test, train, integrate, accelerate.
Nine capability areas, coordinated under one neutral host. Each links through to a deeper view on the capabilities page.
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Multi-Domain Integration & Testing
Coordinated test campaigns that span air, land, maritime, cyber, subterranean, and space — under one neutral host.
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Special Use Airspace Facilitation
Direct access to Restricted Airspace R-4601 near Townsend, with deconfliction support for vetted partners.
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COA-Supported UAS Operations
Certificate of Authorization workflows for unmanned systems testing across Montana corridors.
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Over-Water / On-Water Test Bed
Reservoir, river, and lake environments for surface and subsurface platforms, sensors, and autonomy.
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Sub-T (Subterranean) Test Site Access
Mine, cavern, and tunnel environments for GPS-denied navigation, communications, and robotics.
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SOF-Focused Training & Integration
Purpose-built shoot houses and integration bays designed in collaboration with SOF stakeholders.
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Technology Acceleration
Bridge the gap between prototype and program of record through structured, neutral evaluation.
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Interagency Collaboration
A single point of contact across DoD, federal labs, state agencies, and emergency response partners.
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Academic & Workforce Development
Partnerships with Montana State, U of M, and Montana Tech to build the next generation of capability.
Why Montana
A purpose-fit environment, statewide.
The work belongs here. Montana provides the airspace, terrain, partners, and mission ecosystem to test in conditions that look like the conditions that matter.
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Vast, uncongested airspace
Low ambient air traffic and predictable weather windows enable repeatable test sorties at scale.
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Restricted Airspace R-4601
Direct, vetted access to a special-use restricted area — minutes from the campus.
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Diverse terrain and water features
Mountain, prairie, river, reservoir, and subterranean environments — all within driving distance.
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Supportive state partners
Working relationships with Montana DOT, DES, DEQ, FWP, and emergency-response leadership.
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Strong defense and response missions
Established defense, emergency response, and transportation-mission ecosystem statewide.
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A growing innovation ecosystem
Active university programs, regional accelerators, and dual-use industry partners.
Special use airspace & test environments
Airspace, water, and underground — vetted and deconflicted.
LHITC's role is to facilitate: properly vetted, deconflicted access to environments that are difficult to assemble anywhere else, aligned with mission priorities.
Beyond the line of sight.
COA-Supported UAS Operations
Certificate of Authorization workflows for unmanned aerial systems test and integration across Montana corridors, paired with on-the-ground integration support.
Read more →GPS-denied. Comms-denied. Operationally relevant.
Subterranean Test Sites
Mine, cavern, and tunnel environments for autonomy, robotics, mesh networking, and navigation under realistic underground conditions.
Read more →Reservoir, river, and lake.
Over-Water and On-Water
Test bed access for surface vessels, subsurface platforms, sensors, and autonomy across Montana water features.
Read more →Statewide airspace concepts
Looking ahead, in coordination with state and regional partners.
LHITC is exploring concepts that could expand statewide testing capacity through new airspace coordination, additional corridors, and broader inter-site deconfliction.
These efforts are exploratory, not formalized, and will evolve through continued coordination with state and regional partners.
Leadership
Built around trusted experience.
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James "Jamie" Wilkins
Board President & Program Director
Brigadier General, U.S. Army (Retired)
Jamie leads LHITC with decades of senior military experience and a deep network across the defense, government, and academic communities. His focus is building a neutral, trusted environment where industry, government, and academia can work shoulder-to-shoulder on the hard problems.
Get in touch
Start a conversation.
Tell us what you're trying to accomplish. We'll get back to you with a clear next step.
Townsend, MT