The equipment will be available very soon and it is France which will pilot the deployment of the new device.
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Drones are all the rage in the maritime sector and France is at the forefront. We recently mentioned the birth of an underwater drone manufactured by Naval Group for sensitive operations under the sea. This time it is an aerial drone which will make it possible to monitor the coasts and territorial waters of member countries. . It is a subsidiary of the French CNES (the National Center for Space Studies) which will provide the equipment to the European Maritime Surveillance Agency. A contract of 30 million euros over four years.
In addition to surveillance, it will above all be a matter of intervening more quickly against illicit trafficking, illegal fishing campaigns, accidental or deliberate spillage of fuel by boats, the issue of migrants, or simply preventing accidents. The Member States of the Union will be able to share the four drones for the moment ordered from a Portuguese service provider, Tekever. We stay well in Europe.
These drones have the silhouette of a small plane. With their eight-meter wingspan, they each weigh 180 kilos and can fly within a 1,300 km round-trip radius in complete autonomy. They can carry a multitude of software and hardware such as sensors and cameras linked to the land command center via satellites.
The member countries which have difficulty in agreeing on common legislation, in social or tax matters in particular, are advancing much more quickly on technical and security collaborations. The proof is with these drones, the use of which will be pooled according to needs, with the Cnes at the controls.
Another cooperation is underway with the acquisition by Cnes of Météodyn, a software company specializing in weather and wind technologies based in Saint-Herblain in Loire-Atlantique. This time, it will be about helping wind turbine operators to make their electricity production more efficient, on land and at sea.