|
2017-04-02 Africa Horn
|
|
European Union deploys Drones off Somalia coast
|
 EUNAVFOR’s Operation Atalanta, the European Union’s anti-piracy naval mission in the High Risk Area off the coast of Somalia, is using drones to monitor the nation’s coastline and search for pirate activity.
The Spanish Navy vessel ESPS Galicia has deployed a Boeing ScanEagle remotely piloted aircraft to provide long-endurance aerial surveillance during coastal patrols.
| The drone is nicknamed by the EU navies as the "Juncker"... |
The ScanEagle can be launched and recovered from a small footprint, and it can stay aloft for up to 18 hours; it provides imaging capability both day and night, and serves as a relatively low-cost complement to the over-the-horizon surveillance capabilities of the Galicia’s two Sea King SH-3D helicopters.
To date, the Galicia’s ScanEagle system has racked up over 500 hours of flight time in service of Operation Atalanta. Among its other missions, the drone went aloft to provide constant monitoring of the hijacked tanker Aris 13.
The ScanEagle is also in service with the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Royal Navy, and it was deployed off Somalia during the famous Maersk Alabama hijacking.
The drone is small enough to launch from an 80-foot SEAL operations boat, yet large enough to carry a small radar, an infrared camera or a ViDAR optical detection system. The latest model can operate at a distance of up to 60 miles from its command and control base.
Despite the ScanEagle’s proven capabilities, the UK Royal Navy will stop using the system this year due to budget constraints, part of a series of deep cuts to the service’s front-line weapons systems, units and platforms.
Pirate activity off Somalia has returned since NATO ended its long-running Ocean Shield patrol mission in November. Abdihakim Abdullahi Omar, the vice president of the Somali region of Puntland, recently told reporters that NATO’s failure to address illegal fishing and toxic waste dumping was partly to blame for the recent resurgence in maritime crime. ”
We requested NATO warships to tackle the illegal fishing, but they replied it was not their mandate,” he said. “We told them that if they cannot take measures against the illegal fishing vessels who come under their cover and those who pour wastes into our waters, then their presence is a burden rather than a benefit.”
However, Joshua Tallis, a research analyst for CNA Corporation, recently told the Sri Lanka Guardian that fishing has not traditionally been a major part of the Somali economy, and that most pirates are not former fishermen. “That does not excuse the devastation of toxic dumping and IUU fishing, only its ability to causally explain piracy,” he said. 
|
Posted by Steve White 2017-04-02 00:00||
||
Front Page|| [11138 views ]
Top
File under: Pirates
|
|
Posted by Frank G 2017-04-02 11:50||
2017-04-02 11:50||
Front Page
Top
|
|
Posted by Canuckistan sniper 2017-04-02 19:46||
2017-04-02 19:46||
Front Page
Top
|
|
09:11 Mercutio
09:07 AlmostAnonymous5839
08:52 Matt
08:24 Matt
08:20 SteveS
07:43 Procopius2k
07:42 BrerRabbit
07:42 Procopius2k
07:39 Procopius2k
07:36 Procopius2k
07:35 Procopius2k
07:34 trailing wife
07:31 Procopius2k
07:30 NN2N1
07:22 NN2N1
07:18 trailing wife
07:14 Richard Aubrey
07:10 NN2N1
07:09 Besoeker
07:03 NN2N1
06:58 NN2N1
06:58 Besoeker
05:28 Whiskey Mike
05:23 Whiskey Mike
|
