Coastal security is set to scale greater heights with the police planning to deploy Drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles along the eastern seaboard for surveillance, search and rescue operations.
A special team, comprising top police officials and scientists of Anna University, successfully launched a test flight at Kalpakkam in Kancheepuram district on Saturday. If found feasible, Drones, specially designed for longer range and endurance, would be procured for coastal security purposes in Tamil Nadu, police sources said on Monday.
“We are working on a fixed wing mini unmanned air plane technology that will be an aerodynamically designed vehicle with a range of about 30 km and an endurance of at least six hours. The remote controlled Drone will be equipped with technology for transmission of live visuals to the ground station,” Dr. K. Senthil Kumar of MIT, Anna University, told The Hindu .
Drones could range from the size of an insect to a traditional jet and deployed for a variety of purposes such as anti-poaching, counter-terrorism, air-borne imaging and other law-enforcing or commercial operations. “This is an easy-to-use system designed for fully autonomous operations. Drones are destined to replace manned aircraft in almost all dangerous missions not only in the military domain but also in the civil sector,” Dr. Kumar who works in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, MIT, said.
Referring to a recent earthquake in Japan, he said unmanned aerial vehicles were extensively used by civil authorities to assess the extent of damage there. As regards the eastern coastline in India, Drones could help in reaching out to fishermen or ships in distress and comfortably cover the territorial waters. “Compared to Dornier Aircraft or Helicopter, this facility is more effective, cheap and less time consuming,” he said.
When contacted, Additional Director-General of Police (Coastal Security Group) C. Sylendra Babu said the UAVs were deployed on a trial basis in Kalpakkam. “It is certainly a better surveillance mechanism. Depending on the suitability, we may acquire the facility.”
