Senior Chief Inspector Frank Goerke Outlines the German Federal Police Department’s Requirements for Offshore Patrol Vessels
Frank Goerke has been an officer with the German Bundespolizei for 25 years. During that time he has run several headquarters, including riot police,
His talk at the 2010 Offshore Patrol and Security conference will be on examining new maritime challenges for the federal police. He says: ‘We are influenced by the EU in what we do. Many of our duties are changing and the Offshore Patrol Vessel is central to our work. Today it is not only border protection we have to deal with; we also need to investigate pollution, fight piracy, protect cruising vessels and gas pipelines, and there will be more duties coming to us.’
Declining budgets have increased the need for his department to do more with less. As he says: ‘We need to develop new technology and have been looking into various possibilities. We want to connect helicopters and OPVs through a common technical surveillance system. We have also looked into the possibility of using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in order to provide an assessment of current situations. We are trying to find out how the circumstances will change in the next few years.’
Another aspect of his presentation will deal with connecting skills. He says: ‘Our neighbours in Poland, Denmark and The Netherlands all have skills that are useful to us. If we can connect technical skills and the lessons learned from various operations, we can discover better ways to do our job.’
In this spirit he feels the Offshore Patrol & Security conference will be highly useful. He says: ‘We have a good network of contacts in Europe, but an event like this provides insights one wouldn’t usually have. It will be fascinating to hear from the other international delegations from outside Europe, and hear how they find solutions for the future development of the national coastguards.’
For more information, contact The Development Network: tel. +44 (0) 20 7763 6071 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view itRobert Zuiddam Outlines the new Capabilities of the Dutch Offshore Patrol Vessel Fleet
Robert Zuiddam studied as a naval architect at Delft Technical University in Holland. He contributed to design and new building projects with the NATO working group on simulation and best design, and has worked at the Dutch Ministerie Van Defensie since 1988. He worked with the Royal Dutch Navy on the 1999 design and technical specifications of its hydrographic survey and the 2000 design of the second Dutch LPD class ship. He is currently project manager of the Ministerie Van Defensie’s Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) programme.
His talk at the 2010 Offshore Patrol & Security conference will be on solving technical and operational challenges in the current Dutch OPV fleet. Mr. Zuiddam is currently working on the delivery of a new OPV for the navy. The main contractor, Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding, began work on the ship in 2008, and it should be completed at the end of next year. He says: ‘The reason we’ve built this ship is that we are having to deal with many different tasks like piracy and smuggling, and it’s simply too expensive to do so with existing vessels.’
He says that the boat will be perfectly suited to the tasks it carries out: ‘There will be a much smaller crew of 50, with the potential to add another 40 for certain tasks. We’ve used some feedback from operations in Somalia and realised that if you’re sailing after merchant ships, they’re travelling at around 5-10 knots; constantly moving at that slow speed is bad for your ship’s propulsion system. This is why we’ve fitted an electrical propulsion system to the boat for when it needs to travel at that speed. The boat will still have the pace to keep up with pirates travelling at 30 knots, however,’ he says.
The OPV will also feature an exciting new development in terms of its communication systems. He says: ‘We decided that we would concentrate the communication system on the mast. It is a development of the C-Star radar system, which gives us a very detailed sea surface picture and allows us to see small boats easily. It should solve a lot of the problems with interference that are suffered by satellite communications and antenna plates.’
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Dr Gordon Campbell from the European Space Agency Discusses Satellite Based Surveillance for Offshore Patrol Vessels
Dr Gordon Campbell was originally a seismologist, but has been at the European Space Agency (ESA) for fifteen years. During that time he has worked on the use of satellites for land motion, environmental monitoring and, since 2004, on maritime surveillance at the Science, Applications and Future Technologies Department. His talk at the 2010 Offshore Patrol & Security conference will be on examining satellite-based maritime surveillance and integrating capabilities with conventional navy systems.
He says: ‘Since about 2007 we’ve been seeing that satellite-based surveillance can address gaps in conventional surveillance. We are trying to integrate satellites with technologies like AIS and coastal radar. AIS and VMS radar need ship-based transponders to transmit information, which means they can be open to errors and hitches.’
He sees satellite technology as an answer to the problem. He says: ‘Satellites can back up coastal radar, and find out if people are transmitting AIS messages that they shouldn’t. For coastal radar, it can be difficult to separate two different targets: satellite technology can help with this. Years ago there were only about three or four radar satellites, but now you’ve got about ten. It means you can detect certain types of anomalous behaviour – has a boat slowed down, or turned or got in close proximity to another vessel?’
The project has taken a long time to come to fruition. He says: ‘We always knew it was feasible but getting it to work in an operational setting has taken four to five years. Now NATO and various coastguards and navies have the technology on their work stations. It’s not fully operational, but it is being used in real cases.’
He feels that satellites are not an absolute solution to the problem of surveillance: ‘The important message that we’re not pushing the technology as a magic answer, but it can be very helpful if it’s properly integrated. There are fundamental limits – you can have seven or eight satellites covering an area, but due to their orbit there will be a gap. Everything has strengths and weaknesses, so the key is to make them work together,’ he says.
This is why he feels the Offshore Patrol & Security conference will be important – Offshore Patrol Vessels [OPVs] can work well with this technology: ‘The conference will be on OPVs, and I believe the more capable the vessel, the more options you have. If you have slow vessels we just need to give the target/heading, but OPVs mean we can give the navies more options – you can carry out covert tracking but still have the option of interception work,’ he says.
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Rear Admiral Pierre Sabatié Garat Examines the Global Response to OPV Requirements With Limited Budgets
Rear Admiral Pierre Sabatié Garat spent 26 years in the Silent Service, commanding various SSBN and SSGN class submarines. He then spent ten years in Paris in the General Staff and as Deputy CNO for Operations at the Navy Staff, dealing with internal affairs, prospective security in Europe and the future of NATO. He spent two years in London as defence attaché at the French embassy, before returning to France to work as Inspector of Maritime Forces.
His talk at the 2010 Offshore Patrol & Security conference will be on responding to expanding OPV requirements. The talk will include a case study of the French navy, as he feels that European navies are more and more engaged as part of European and NATO operations. He says: ‘Many of the questions are the same for European navies. The areas are situated far away from Europe but whether we’re intervening in conflicts or fighting piracy we have to be in places like the Caribbean Sea and so on.’
He adds: ‘European and French navies need to have the kind of ships required for these types of operations. We have to balance between cost and numbers: as long as we’re far away from the field we need a lot of ships. The areas that we have to patrol, like the Indian Ocean, are very large. So not only do we need a lot of ships, we need ships which will be heading back to Europe to be renewed: we can’t stay there with the same vessels.’
He is well aware of the pressure of budget constraints: ‘If we want to have enough ships they should not be too costly. It’s not necessary to have ships that are too sophisticated, but there is a need for common patrol boats that are the right size to operate in heavy seas. These boats have to be linked via modern, sophisticated communication systems to other ships and common staff,’ he says.
This is where Offshore Patrol Vessels [OPVs] fit in. He says: ‘The vessels have to be able to survey large areas of the sea and investigate small craft on the surface, so will need surface radar or helicopter UAVs, and will need to be able to work with the maritime aircraft. They will also need to be equipped with fast craft that can carry marines and allow them to board craft that they need to control, even in heavy seas.’
He concludes: ‘We all have more or less the same problems and we know that our ships will have to cooperate, so it will be interesting to swap ideas. There are many different innovations in shipyards: people are thinking about different solutions. It’ll be very important to hear all of them at the Offshore Patrol & Security conference and I’m very excited about it.’
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Commander Shishir Upadhyaya Outlines Maritime Security Challenges in the Indian Ocean
Commander Shishir Upadhyaya is a Research Fellow at the National Maritime Foundation, the only naval think tank in India. His talk at the 2010 Offshore Patrol & Security conference will be on ‘Understanding the increased importance of OPVs in the fight against terrorism,’ and will include a case study of the Mumbai terror attacks.
In addition, Commander Upadhyaya will talk about policing the Indian Ocean region. He says: ‘My main area of expertise is the non-traditional threats which are emerging in the Indian Ocean region. Presently we have two hotspots. One is the Strait of Malacca; the other is the Gulf of Aden. Both are on the Equatorial Pendulum, the main shipping line, which sees 100,000 ships pass through it a year, carrying fifty per cent of the container traffic.’
He feels terrorism is the most important issue: ‘One of the major non traditional threats is Al Qaeda, which is operating in the straits. There is also Jamal Islamia, another terror group, operating around South East Asia and Indonesia. Due to the increased crack down on terror on land, there’s a distinct possibility you will see these groups shifting to sea. We’ve seen attacks on airports and trains, so the sea is the next frontier,’ he says.
He adds: ‘Another major threat is human trafficking. The Indian Ocean has a number of poor countries like Afghanistan and Iraq whose inhabitants want to move to Australia and India. Gun running is a major issue. The LTTE in Sri Lanka were receiving a lot of its weapons from South East Asia. The supply lines were cut off during the military campaign but many of the sources in Indonesia and Thailand are still active, and one can see them becoming more so.’
Due to the high volume of maritime traffic there are even more threats: ‘Drug trafficking is another major problem. The Golden Crescent of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq dominates drugs production, while there are also drugs made in Thailand and Malaysia. A huge number of pungent goods such as coffee and spices travel through the Indian Ocean region, which makes it easy to mask those drugs,’ he says.
Commander Upadhyaya feels that the combined weight of all these factors means Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) are becoming increasingly important. He says: ‘OPVs will be the best way to deal with these threats. Most naval ships are very big, and non-traditional threats need a different platform. A destroyer is not the best platform. I believe the ideal platform would be an LPD class command platform carrying lots of troops, with lots of OPVs for security.’
He adds: ‘I’m really looking forward to the conference; it will be interesting to hear other speakers and to see how they will be meeting what are common challenges.’
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Captain Massimo Annati Outlines the Need for Non-Lethal Weapons in Offshore Patrol and Security Operations
Captain Massimo Annati is Deputy Chairman of the European Working Group-Non-Lethal-Weapons (EWG-NLW). He is a weapons engineer with a great deal of experience in the fields of procurement and government quality assurance for combat systems, weapons, ordnances and communications. In the past he was a member of the staff of the National Armament, Director in the field of International Cooperation, and former Head of International Matters and Co-operation Division at the Naval Armament General Directorate (NAVARM).
He is currently Director of the Regional Bureau (North) for Communication, Information Technology and Advanced Technologies in Milan, a joint service agency. He is a regular contributor to many international defence publications and magazines.
His presentation at the Offshore Patrol & Security 2010 conference will be a case study of non-lethal weapons in offshore patrol and security operations. He will begin by arguing that in today’s operations warships often have an overkill capability compared to their tasks. As he says: ‘Big guns and missiles are just useless when dealing with a suspect merchant ship or an approaching fast boat. You either use them and risk an international incident, including disruption of the mission, or don’t use them, and risk the life of your ship and your crew - and of course, disruption of the mission again. The fact is that sensors don’t provide the most important information: i.e. the intent of the other guy.’
In this light, he feels non-lethal weapons are a better alternative: ‘If you use non lethal weapons instead, you can determine whether the other guy is bad or well-minded. In many cases he will just stop or turn away. Other possibilities include delaying or stopping the subject with non-lethal force. In the end, we could use the traditional lethal weaponry, but only knowing that we are entitled to kill and destroy, because the target is definitely not an innocent fisherman or a careless tourist.’
His talk will cover Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs). He says: ‘Offshore Patrol Vessels are very specific assets, as they are a constellation on their own, including the vessel, a helicopter, possibly unmanned vehicles, one or more fast RHIBs, and the deployed boarding team. Each and every one of these components can use one or more non lethal weapons specific for their tasks and suited to their nature.’
He says that there is a misconception about the role of OPVs: ‘In today’s operations we are much more frequently required to stop an alleged trafficker, to inspect a freighter, or to chase a suspect pirate, than to shoot down a missile or to sink a submarine. Despite that, the main focus of the navies is still in traditional warfare, which is, frankly, much more glamorous than maritime security operations. Security assets are often disregarded or underestimated. Real life is showing us that OPVs and maritime security operations are used daily. And by ‘daily’ I mean 24-7, not only during major international crises.’
As a result, Captain Annati believes there should be a reorientation of the platforms used in maritime security across the world – from vessels (fewer destroyers and submarines, and more OPVs) to equipments (fewer long-range missiles and more RHIBs, propeller entanglers, and laser dazzlers). He says: ‘During this conference I’m eager to learn about the requirements of some of the world's major players, as well as to be briefed on the latest evolution of the civil-military co-operation to face a complex world including threats and challenges as various as piracy, terrorism, trafficking, and poaching.’
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Commander Martin Mackey Discusses the Royal Navy’s Capability Plan for Mine Countermeasures, Hydrographic & Patrol Vessels
Commander Martin Mackey joined the Royal Navy as a Midshipman in 1987. He completed Fleet Training in 1989, before serving in Ton, Hunt and Sandown Class MCM ships as the Navigator, Operations Officer and Executive Officer. He also served as the Operations Officer to HRH The Duke of York in HMS Cottesmore.
He was the Operations Officer in HMS Glasgow when she was deployed to
Commander Mackey joined the MOD as the MW Capability Desk Officer in September 2009 and is leading the project that will deliver the future Mine Countermeasures (MCM), Hydrographic and Patrol capabilities to UK Defence.
In this role he has been influenced by the Sustained Surface Combatant Capability (S2C2) programme (carried out to rationalise the platforms used by the Royal Navy - it closed in April 2007). He says: ‘The Royal Navy’s plan is to reduce the number of different ships to a common baseline. As a result, we are about to go into the concept phase for a common MCM platform combining hydrographic and patrol functions
He adds: ‘This vessel is currently described as the MCM, HM and Patrol Vessel or MHPV. Early assessments indicate that the vessel might be around 90-100 metres, and about 2-2.5 tonnes. The idea is that the platform can deliver a range of off-board systems such as unmanned underwater vehicles, unmanned surface vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles all designed to meet future MCM and HM capability needs. These systems would form mission packages on the ship in order to provide a range of capabilities. We’re past the idea of ships like the Sandown class minehunter, which was designed to provide a single capability.’
He feels the vessel’s different roles can be carried out together with ease: ‘This platform would deliver MCM and hydrographic capability. We have seen there is a synergy between the effects that both capabilities deliver. MCM necessarily deals with searching for and destroying enemy mines, but includes surveying areas in that process. Hydrographic vessels do a number of other tasks but the data they collect can be shared by contributing to a common data base that can be used by any number of agencies,’ he says.
Both functions will involve the use of new technology. He says: ‘We need to realise more affordable and effective measures to reduce the risk to men and material engaged in MCM operations. To do this we'd like to take the man out of the minefield and look to technology to deliver unmanned vessels delivered by a number of methods including the MHPV. This would remove risk. We’re also considering delivering the hydrography through gliders, unmanned vehicles and towing smaller and more sophisticated sonars.’
However, the plan is only in its early stages with the project to deliver this new and exciting change to the way the RN does business about to go into the concept phase of the MOD's CADMID cycle. He says: ‘We are looking at capability delivery – not the vessel itself. We don’t want to start the concept phase by assuming that an MHPV is the only solution. Platforms – and personnel – need to be flexible.’
Commander Mackey is looking forward to the 2010 Offshore Patrol Conference. He says: ‘There are other countries following the same idea. The
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Peter Dunn Explains the Increase in the Offshore Patrol Vessel Sector
Peter Dunn has spent almost 40 years working in the marine industry. He began his career as a nuclear-propulsion test engineer with the Ministry of Defence (MOD), moving on to become a reactor compartment manager and decontamination specialist on Polaris submarine refits. He left the MOD to become Marine Managing Director with the Seaforth Group. He then became a Director of Cammell Laird shipyard and in 2000 was appointed European Naval Sales Director at Rolls Royce. He joined Fincantieri two and a half years ago as a Consultant Director of Naval and Offshore Business Development.
He is currently working on a variety of projects, including several large naval new build programmes, is helping the company diversify into offshore oil and gas, civil nuclear and the renewable energy sector and advising on the development of Fincantieri’s marine equipment portfolio.
He says: ‘Fincantieri is the largest shipbuilder in Europe, but also an important equipment manufacturer. This can cause collisions of interest so I am assisting Fincantieri in forming strategic relations with other companies who can compliment our skills and help increase our presence in the market.’ The job is calling on all of his knowledge: ‘Even my nuclear experience is useful as shipyards are excellent locations to construct and ship out engineering modules for nuclear power plants, plus we are currently designing and building a nuclear fuel handling vessel for Russia as part of an EEC initiative.’
Mr. Dunn will be speaking with Achille Fulfuro, Fincantieri’s Head of New Project Proposals about the latest developments in the design of Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) and Security Vessels while giving an insight into the creation of solutions to accommodate different mission profiles. He says: ‘It’s rather like the evolution of the motor car; OPVs of the future will have to be greener, with increased mission flexibility and affordable through life.’
The OPV and security vessel sector is wide-ranging; he says: ‘From small inflatable craft to vessels that look more like Corvettes. OPVs used in Arctic conditions need to be built to ‘Ice Class’, with powerful propulsion plants, azimuthing thrusters and controllable pitch propellers and these are very different to vessels used in shallow water such as the Middle East Gulf where water jet propulsion is more appropriate or vessels used for pirate intervention or policing illegal immigration where speed is a key driver in the design. That’s why Fincantieri offers different solutions depending on the geographical and mission profiles of the navies and coast guard agencies we serve.’
The offshore patrol sector is a highly competitive market. As Mr. Dunn says: ‘The naval market tends to transcend recessions and this encourages commercial shipbuilders who lack our expertise to compete for military tenders in a way that can look financially attractive but often end in misery for the customer. Fincantieri distinguishes itself from its competitors by offering sophisticated system integration, higher quality and the ability to offer integrated logistics support (ILS) that spans the life of the vessel and takes in major refits, certification updates and performance enhancing modifications.’
Mr. Dunn feels that the sector can only expand: ‘You have emerging offshore projects for producing renewable energy, like wind farms, wave power generation, biomass farming, etc. This market is moving quickly because of the accelerated effects of global warming, the need to reduce Co2 emissions and the depletion of global oil resources. The Royal Navy is advising the Government on the protection of major wind farms planned to be built around the UK coast in the next 10 years for it’s one thing to protect a manned oil platform, but something else to protect a remote wind farm spread over a very large sea area. There are also plans to build up to eleven new nuclear plants in the UK that will all be coastal installations requiring increasing degrees of security that will ultimately be the responsibility of the navy and other security agencies.’
There are further reasons why the sector will experience a boom, he adds: ‘Policing immigration is becoming more of an issue. Every country in Europe with sea access has had to think about floating prisons or ways of increasing their land based detention capacity. On top of that there are the issues of drugs trafficking, and terrorism stemming from Iraq and Afghanistan. It will be interesting to hear what people at the conference have to say about sea, land and airborne security protection and new ways of providing integrated solutions involving multi agencies.’
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Commander Stephen Cederrand Discusses the Future Use of Resources to Deliver Results in Fisheries Policing
Commander Stephen Cederrand is Co-ordinator of Control Operations at the Community Fisheries Control Agency. Prior to this role he spent time in the Swedish Coast Guard and four years at the SADC-EU MCS Programme, where he was responsible for assisting the fisheries authorities of various African countries in the development of regional and national monitoring, control and surveillance strategies and their implementation. His presentation at the Offshore Patrol & Security 2010 conference will deal with the increasing need for pooling fisheries surveillance resources.
The presentation will show how this issue spreads beyond the issue of fishing security: ‘Co-operation is going to become increasingly vital – it’s the only way to tackle terrorism and policing. Illegal fishing has existed for a long time but its political importance rises and falls – at the moment it’s very much on the agenda. The connection between it and organised crime is clear – both are opportunistic, and both are big money – when that comes into the equation the big criminals come out to play,’ he says.
He will draw on his previous experiences to show how cooperation can work. He says: ‘The first time I got involved in this work was in southern Africa. It was an EU-funded project. On the western coast we had Namibian vessels, and manned them with inspectors from Angola and South Africa, patrolling the waters of all three countries. On the eastern coast we had inspectors from South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania involved in joint operations. It was good to help countries with few or no resources to put ships to sea: the work produced clear results.’
He adds: ‘The most obvious issue is the cost: I won’t be putting figures on the table but it’s about cost benefits. It’s really not cheap to put a ship out to sea. There’s a need for a level playing field in Europe: it’s important that EU regulations are implemented the same way across different countries.’
The issue of pooled fisheries surveillance has clear parallels with other global issues. He argues: ‘Due to the global economy this issue is becoming more important. You have areas like the Baltic and North Seas which are surrounded by land, and there are ample numbers of vessels for fisheries but the distribution is uneven. It’s a little bit like climate change – the cost of incremental improvements could be high across the board, but if one country can do more for a decent amount of money then that’s the one you should target.’
Commander Cederrand’s presentation will also be forward-thinking in its approach: ‘For the future we will definitely look at the possibility of chartering vessels. The process is going to increase; especially in times of recession, there’s a clear need for Governments to save money. It’s not just vessels; staff, aircraft and exchange of information are all things that can be shared.’
He is looking forward to the conference and is particularly interested in the logistics of policing: ‘I’m sure many speakers at the conference will have relevance to my topic. I’m particularly interested in the issues of coast guards and dedicated fishing protection services. Coast guards are more empowered – for example, if a British customs vessel saw illegal fishing going on, all it could do is report the incident – but there is a danger that the coast guards can become jack of all trades and master of none,’ he says.
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Jon Rosamund Confirmed as Chairman for the Technology Focus Day at the 2010 Offshore Patrol & Security Conference
Jon Rosamond has edited Jane's Navy International for almost three years, covering naval operations, exercises, conferences and industry events in Australia, France, Finland, Italy, Sweden, Turkey, the United States and the Persian Gulf as well as the UK, and leading a small team that has reported from places as far afield as Sri Lanka, the Caribbean and Japan.
From December 2003 to April 2007, Mr. Rosamund was defence correspondent on the Portsmouth News (one of only two regional newspapers in the UK with such a post), writing primarily about the Royal Navy but also covering the exploits of Hampshire-based Army units on operations/exercises in Germany and Iraq.
He will be chairing the 2010 Offshore Patrol & Security conference’s Technology Focus Day on 19th April 2010. There are a number of speakers whom he is eager to hear. Mr. Rosamund says: ‘The conference will provide a broad overview of the importance of Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) in security, which is becoming more important to navies in light of the pressure to drive down procurement costs. They don’t offer high end security, but they are getting more complex. The latest ones have highly advanced sensory systems.’
He is particularly looking forward to talks from Peter Dunn and Achille Fulfuro from Fincantieri on OPV propulsion systems: ‘What they have to say will be highly relevant due to a drive to cut down on fuel consumption in all navies. Some are having to keep ships in port and are having to operate them well below maximum speed. It also ties in with the green agenda that many navies need to fulfil these days,’ says Mr. Rosamund.
The technology day will also provide an interesting insight into more advanced elements of the security sector. Dr Gordon Campbell from the European Space agency will talk about satellite-based maritime surveillance, and Mr. Rosamund feels that what he has to say will be of interest to a number of navies. ‘Efforts are being made to enhance the maritime picture for navies that are operating in the Middle East. The existing Automatic Identification Systems can only reach so far from the coast, so a satellite system will be something that navies are watching,’ he says.
Bernd Jaschinski from the Federal Police Department for Maritime Security, German Bundespolizei, will also be speaking about its Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) development program. Mr Rosamund says: ‘The German Bundespolizei will give an intriguing perspective. UAVs can create a hornets’ nest in terms of crowded airspace – they’re easy to operate over somewhere like Afghanistan or Iraq, but elsewhere it can be hard due to aviation restrictions. The aviation authorities don’t want swarms of unmanned vehicles flying overhead, for obvious reasons. It seems the new breed of micro UAVs can get around those restrictions, however.’
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