The European Border Control Agency (Frontex) has awarded Indra a service contract which incorporates the company’s P2006T MRI aircraft into the EPN Triton maritime surveillance operation in the central zone of the Mediterranean Sea.
The agency signed a framework agreement with Indra last August which qualified the company to bid in this type of tender, which Frontex uses to covers its response needs in the case of crisis situations. Indra’s MRI P2006T had to compete with aircraft from companies from all over Europe, thus demonstrating its outstanding capabilities.
Starting March 10 and throughout the whole of this month, the MRI is conducting surveillance tasks in the area around southern Italy to track the movement of illegal vessels engaged in trafficking immigrants, and to provide support for lifesaving efforts. The aircraft collects in-flight information and conveys it in real-time to the system’s control station at its headquarters in the Italian airport of Brindisi.
This information is simultaneously shared with the Coordination and Control Center (LCC) of the Italian Guardia di Finanza located in Pomezia (Rome), and the Frontex offices in Warsaw, which supervise the whole operation.
Indra’s P2006T MRI is equipped with state-of-the-art surveillance systems and can effectively monitor large areas. It has a FLIR Systems large-format latest-generation high-definition electro-optical camera, a SELEX Galileo Radar Seaspray 5000E radar, and an AIS vessel identification system. It can monitor areas between the coastline and 150 miles out to sea, with patrols lasting between four and six hours.
Source / Author: INDRA
Photo: INDRA