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Date Published: 21/01/2025

Canary Islands to have a super drone for fighting fires and monitoring immigration

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The aircraft that is piloted from the ground is capable of flying for 20 hours continuously

Canary Islands to have a super drone for fighting fires and monitoring immigration

The Canary Islands are to have a ‘super drone’ whose main function will be to prevent and fight forest fires and perform numerous surveillance and security activities. The aircraft is expected to arrive in the archipelago just in time for the wildfire season and will then operate all year around to assist in prevention, early warning and management of fires.

The drone will also help in the protection of biodiversity through monitoring and control of natural spaces and environmental complexes. The plane is also capable of monitoring the coastline for unknown boats approaching the shore. The Falco EVO, as the aircraft is called, will have as its base of operations the Stratoport of the Fuerteventura Technology Park.

President of the Government of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, said, “Having an aircraft like the one we have seen with a 20-hour range, a range that can easily go to the African coast and return without any problem... For everything, for security, maritime traffic, immigration, fires, for any need that may arise today... It would be a real luxury.”

The president continued in his praise of the aircraft by highlighting that this latest generation of unmanned aircraft places the Canary Islands at the forefront of protecting its biodiversity and fighting large forest fires on the islands.

Sixth-generation fires, which are increasingly frequent, intense, fast and unpredictable, have become a big problem in Spain and this aircraft is expected to radically improve forest fire management.

Referring to recent wildfires that devestated Los Angeles, Carlos Fernández, CEO of Telespazio Ibérica, said, “The example of California is very clear and very recent.”

The super drone can operate in extreme weather conditions, and its sensors capture data to be sent in real time to the Geoinformation Centre, where it will be processed using artificial intelligence.

Fernández further highlighted that the prevention phase is crucial in fighting fires because the data, used together with AI-based algorithms, can detect suspicious activities and create 3D mapping and fire risk maps.

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Image: Gobierno de Canarias

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