Made-in-Nigeria Drones To Be Deployed For Land, Air, Sea Surveillance

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday commissioned unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) which the airforce would be deployed for land, air and sea surveillance.

The UAVs, christened “Tsaigumi”, are locally made and by the NAF Institute of Technology.

According to the Nigeria Air Force, the UAVs would be put to use in policing operations, convoy protection, disaster management.

Other areas listed are maritime patrol, pipeline and power line monitoring.

In a statement released by the NAF spokesperson, the UAVS can be used for the monitoring of Nigeria’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

Read the full statement below:

“The Tsaigumi UAV, which was produced by NAF Aerospace Engineers in collaboration with UAVision of Portugal, would be used for Intelligence Surveillance and Recognisance (ISR) operations in land and sea domains.

“It could also be used for policing operations, disaster management, convoy protection, maritime patrol, pipeline and power line monitoring as well as mapping and border patrol duties. In addition, it could be deployed for the protection of wildlife, weather forecast and telecast.

“Additionally, in the maritime domain, the Tsaigumi UAV could be used for search and rescue, coastal monitoring and patrol of Nigeria’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

“The UAV, which is capable of day and night operations, has an operational endurance in excess of 10 hours, a service ceiling of 15,000 feet and a mission radius of 100km.

“It has a maximum take-off weight of 95kg and its payload is an electro-optic/infra-red camera system.”