Drone surveillance system starts work on Narva River

Drone surveillance system starts work on Narva River A new drone surveillance system has been launched on the Narva River. Initially, border guards will be able to monitor aircraft movements along about a third of the river border, with the entire border river to be covered next year. The first five radar masts were erected along the Narva River in the spring. They have now been equipped with surveillance equipment and for the first time border guards can monitor drone movements at and near the border. Even Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying along the border show up on the radar. "These systems are now operational. We can see drones — not just small, civilian drones. In principle, if a military drone appears near our border, it will also show up on the radar screen. This is a significant step forward," Interior Minister Igor Taro said. Just a few years ago, border guards said they could see about 70 percent of what was happening on the Narva River. By next year, the remaining blind spots are expected to disappear. "We have state-of-the-art radar systems that, in addition to conventional monitoring of the airspace, can now also track different types of drone traffic. Better eyes and better systems give us a clearer picture to respond to," said Veiko Kommusaar, deputy director general of the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA). While border guards can currently only monitor drone movements, the next step will be to counter drones both along the eastern border and inland. "We are currently in the final stages of procuring an experimental site. Once the procurement is complete, an experimental site will be built where various counter-drone solutions will also be tested. If these solutions prove successful, they can then be deployed elsewhere across Estonia where they could be useful," Taro said. Estonian border guards currently have drone surveillance coverage from Narva to Narva-Jõesuu. Construction of radars that will cover the Narva River as far as Lake Peipus is still underway and they are expected to become operational next year. -- Editor: Marcus Turovski, Aleksander Krjukov