More and more UK police forces and government agencies are exploring the potential of unmanned drones for covert aerial surveillance, security or emergency operations across the UK, the Guardian has learned.
The UK Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA), which works closely with police forces and the UK Security Service (MI5), published an unusually detailed public tender notice in the summer requesting submissions from suppliers of airborne observation “platforms” that can be adapted for “target acquisition” and intelligence-gathering.
The proposal comes as the use of helicopter microdrones for law enforcement spreads. At least four forces — Merseyside, in the north west of England, Essex in the south east, Staffordshire in central England and British Transport police — have bought or used them.
Several government bodies, including the Environment Agency, have examined similar systems, while the fire services in the West Midlands of England and in South Wales launch them as miniature spotter planes above major blazes. Some are operated commercially for aerial photography.
Microdrones can be fitted with video cameras, thermal imaging devices, radiation detectors, mobile phone jammers and air sampling devices. Hovering at heights of around 60m, they are said by manufacturers to be virtually invisible from the ground.
This week the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) issued fresh advice about unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for surveillance, warning that they must be licensed when flown within 50m of a person, property or structure.
“In the past we have seen people seriously injured or even killed by model aircraft,” the authority said, “and, now that small, unmanned aircraft are becoming more readily available and simpler to fly, we need to avoid any similar incidents.”
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
‘BODIES EVERYWHERE’: The incident occurred at a Filipino festival celebrating an anti-colonial leader, with the driver described as a ‘lone suspect’ known to police Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, killing a number of people. Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8pm in Vancouver’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day. The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada’s election. A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police wrote on X. The driver was a “lone suspect” known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo. Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program. He added that the acquisition
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