The Antigua and Barbuda government is considering the deployment of an advanced long-range drone surveillance network to strengthen national security, crime-fighting and emergency response capabilities.
Director General of Communications Maurice Merchant said Cabinet received a presentation Wednesday from a United States-based company on a proposed Beyond Visual Line of Sight security network.
The system would combine high-powered drones with command-and-control technology to provide aerial surveillance, gather intelligence and support rapid responses to incidents.
According to Merchant, drones could be dispatched immediately after an incident is reported, allowing police and other security personnel to view the situation from the air before officers arrive on the ground.
The technology could potentially be used to identify and track people, vehicles and vessels. Merchant said the drones could travel more than 30 kilometres and remain airborne for close to an hour, compared with the roughly 30-minute flight duration of some drones currently being used.
“This is on to another level of surveillance that the government is exploring,” Merchant said.
He noted that the Royal Police Force and Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force already possess and operate drones as part of their surveillance and crime-fighting efforts.
Questions were raised during the post-Cabinet briefing about the rules governing the collection and storage of information obtained through the proposed network.
Merchant said regulations are already in place for the drones currently operated by the security forces. However, he acknowledged that some adjustments could be required to accommodate the more advanced system.
“There may be a few tweaking that will be required for the use of these high-powered drones,” he said.
Merchant declined to identify the company behind the proposal, saying the government would prefer to withhold its name until Cabinet and national security officials have assessed the presentation.
He initially described it as a United States-based company but later referred to the presenter as an official from a North American company.
Merchant said the proposed technology would allow drones to operate beyond the controller’s direct line of sight, meaning members of the public would not necessarily know when drones were overhead.
He suggested that this could strengthen surveillance of people involved in criminal activity.
Cabinet has not approved the purchase or deployment of the system. The proposal will first be considered in consultation with officials across Antigua and Barbuda’s national security apparatus, after which a recommendation will be submitted on whether the government should proceed.
This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: Antigua Considers Long-Range Drone Network to Track Vehicles, Vessels and Reported Incidents.