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The Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) developed by the TEKEVER Group were selected by the Portuguese Navy to integrate a FrontexMission in the Mediterranen Sea this year. The TEKEVER group is building up an unmanned aerial system program to perform multiple types of near shore and maritime missions, including search and rescue, surveillance, illegal fisheries control, maritime patrol and pollution detection, among others. The program is a result from the close cooperation between TEKEVER and the Portuguese Navy.
“The role of Frontex is to support Member States towards effective border control in the Mediterranean region, and at the same time to save lives during these operations. UAS technology could be very useful in this kind of missions because it could improve authorities’ response time”, said Ricardo Mendes, TEKEVER COO.
The AR3 Net Ray, launched at Paris Air Show, is one of the systems that are being trialed. Because of its endurance of more than 10h, this UAS is a perfect fit to support many of the maritime missions being carried out.
“Europe in the past few months has been shocked by a record high in the number of migrants dying in the Mediterranean Sea. In the maritime domain, there is a wide spectrum of possible technical means that can be employed to provide effective surveillance. However, its clear that Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) could also play an important role in further enhancing border surveillance in the future”, added Mendes.
TEKEVER’s knowledge in maritime scenarios is becoming recognized by multiple institutions. Just recently, the European Space Agency and the European Maritime Safety Agency have selected the TEKEVER AR5 Life Ray Evolution for a new European maritime surveillance system composed of drones. The RAPSODY Project, led by TEKEVER, will test the use of unmanned aerial systems in a maritime context through real-world demonstration of two scenarios: search and rescue missions; and pollution and oil spill monitoring. The systems will operate over the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. This is the first time unmanned aerial systems will be introduced into maritime surveillance missions in Europe.
