Africa advised deploying unmanned aircraft to protect the continent’s marine precincts
Africa definately needs to protect its shorelines and marine precincts, but how?
A research associate at the University of Pretoria’s Ocean Regions Programme, Tshegofatso Ramachela, says Africa should be looking to unmanned systems to significantly improve its offshore security.
Speaking at the Africa Aerospace and Defense (AAD) conference at Waterkloof Air Force Base, Ramachela pointed out that drones can be operated at low risk with high rewards and that they come with a significantly lower cost than other traditional maritime vessels such as ships and submarines.
Many African coastal and island nations have limited offshore patrol capabilities, and some also lack sufficient air assets. She said that, considering the personal safety of maritime security officers, it made more sense to deploy a drone to carry out surveillance of a vast area of water in dangerous conditions.
However, the continent faces a number of challenges which would affect the deployment and integration of drones into defence capabilities and doctrine.
Ramachela noted that drones cannot fully supplement traditional maritime forces, but they can serve as force multipliers.
The challenges include technological and financial constraints such as the cost of training operators and license fees, technical limitations, as well as gaps in legislation, regulations and sovereignty issues.
Currently, the main suppliers of these drones to Africa were the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Israel and Turkiye.
However, there are also several African-based companies that manufacture drones for maritime purposes, such as South Africa’s Milkor and Denel and a Moroccan tech start-up.
This year saw South Africa’s first locally designed and built unmanned surface vessel complete sea acceptance trials and debut internationally.
In Africa, drones have to date primarily been used to collect data and combat maritime crimes like piracy, maritime terrorism and monitoring pollution.
Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Angola and Seychelles are among those using unmanned systems at sea.
Seychelles is arguably one of the front-runners in using this unmanned technology and they operate long-range surveillance drones equipped with artificial intelligence to monitor their vast maritime area to combat illegal fishing.
There is also a concern that as Africa’s maritime security becomes increasingly militarised, the continent may become a testing ground for new prototypes including the incorporation of artificial intelligence.
She said: “As African countries attempt to enhance their defence capabilities, we are going to see the demand for drones with maritime applications rise significantly. This has made Africa a highly profitable market which attracts partnerships and investments from various stakeholders, both state and non-state actors.”
Still, Ramachela painted an alluring picture of a future in which Africa’s vast territorial waters – from the north shores of the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, the Atlantic Ocean in the west, the Indian Ocean in the east and the Southern Ocean are patrolled and monitored by unmanned and semi-autonomous systems – a continental exclusive economic zone comprising an estimated 30-million square kilometres.
But for now, Africa is considered a consumer rather than a producer of drones.