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Date Published: 07/02/2022

ARCHIVED - Spy Birds to patrol Spanish skies against organised crime

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

The state-of-the-art drones will be used in large-scale secret operations in Spain

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Spy Birds to patrol Spanish skies against organised crime

Spain’s armed institute is about to embark on one of its most daring projects to date as the Guardia Civil plans to manufacture high-tech drones in the shape of birds with the sole objective of carrying out covert surveillance on organised criminal gangs and terrorist groups. Initially, two prototype ‘spy birds’ will be developed and used in large-scale secret operations.

On December 23, the director general of the Guardia Civil, María Gámez, gave the green light to the project, with an allocated budget of 108,000 euros. Aeromedia UAV, well known in Spain for manufacturing small aircraft and drones for the emergency and environmental services and the film industry, has been drafted in to develop the highly specialised units.

Bird-shaped drones are nothing new: they are used widely for recreation and in farming as a means of scaring off predators like falcons, but the Central Operational Unit (OCU), the elite force of the armed institute, will require drones with some very special features.

“The aircraft must have the appearance of a bird, which allows aerial surveillance to be carried out covertly, making it difficult for the subjects on whom the surveillance falls to detect them,” Guardia Civil technicians have explained. In addition, the spy birds will have to be “propelled” by a “silent electric motor” that emits as little noise as possible. The prototypes must also have the ability to take off and land on any type of terrain.

Aeronautical experts insist that Aeromedia UAV face a huge engineering challenge to develop realistic birds that weigh just 3.5 kilos while withstanding gusts of 30 kilometres that can be operated seamlessly by agents stationed up to 10 kilometres away.

This advanced technology is currently only used by the secret services in countries such as China, Russia, Israel and the United States.

Now read: UK most wanted criminal arrested in Spain

Images: The Drone Bird Company

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