Sunday 12 August 2012

Spy drones over the Med


Daily Mail

Unmanned spy drones could patrol Britain’s shores looking for illegal immigrants and smugglers after a series of high-level meetings in Brussels, The Mail on Sunday has learned.


The European Commission aims to spend £260 million on its ‘Eurosur’ project, which includes a plan for surveillance drones to patrol the Mediterranean coast.

At the same time, several schemes are under way in Britain, aiming to develop civilian roles for aircraft based on the killer drones hunting Al Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

If the high-tech measures against terrorists, illegal immigrants and smugglers in the Mediterranean are successful, there would be pressure on the UK to follow suit.

Surveillance planes with military-grade cameras would be more effective at monitoring the coastline than satellites or standard planes.

British defence firms are testing sophisticated ‘sense and avoid’ systems on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over the Irish Sea and some experts believe European civilian airspace could soon see drones flying alongside other aircraft.

Continue reading: Spy drones over the Med

Thursday 9 August 2012

The Syrians are now on their way too


Syrian refugees are now on their way across the Mediterranean to reach the EU with a boat recently intercepted by Italy.

All of North Africa including the Countries where the Arab spring has just taken place, and many from other parts of Africa are using the Mediterranean as their spring board into Europe via Libya, and now they are heading from the Middle East into the same water.

Look at Lampadusa.

Further reading: Syrian refugees