Watching over the Channel, a £6m war drone
AN ‘eye in the sky’ military drone has been used in British airspace for the first time to tackle the Channel migrant crisis.
The Watchkeeper drone is being used to help locate and monitor migrants in dinghies and other small boats, the Ministry of Defence said.
The £6million aircraft was deployed in Afghanistan but has never flown operationally over the UK. In 2014, it was hailed as a ‘battle-winning technology’ by then defence secretary Michael Fallon. The drone, also known as a tactical unmanned air vehicle (TUAV), has a range of sensors including infrared cameras, night vision and two types of radar.
An MoD spokesman said Watchkeeper ‘will provide a leading surveillance and reconnaissance capability’.
The Watchkeeper TUAV programme has cost the UK more than £1billion, 2017 figures showed.