The UAV Advantage for Critical National Infrastructure

The complex geopolitical environment in the Gulf demands that prudent nations remain constantly vigilant to protect their most important assets. In the face of many different threats, governments are looking for more efficient and effective ways to persistently monitor their borders, and critical national infrastructure (CNI) such oil pipelines, power plants, highways and more.

Similarly, the Gulf’s maritime domain is an essential source of natural resources and a vital transportation link for the global economy. Maritime resources and assets also require constant vigilance against the threat of piracy, sabotage, smuggling and other illicit activities. Maintaining a watch over maritime environments, or monitoring CNI assets in remote, inhospitable terrain like the deserts and mountains of the Arabian Peninsula, is challenging. Traditional manned platforms, such as observation aircraft, are expensive and manpower-intensive, however, so in recent years, many organisations in the GCC have turned to the Boeing family of autonomous systems to meet the challenge.

Autonomous systems bring advanced new capabilities that help organisations to perform ‘dull, dirty and dangerous’ missions protecting CNI and other important resources on land and at sea. Autonomous systems such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned surface vessels (USVs) not only reduce the risk and workload for personnel, but also enable greater awareness and better decision-making than can be achieved via traditional methods that require people to be physically present at the point of interest.

Boeing subsidiary Insitu is a pioneer in the high-performance, cost-effective UAVs. Founded in 1994, Insitu has built more than 3,000 UAVs for a global customer base that spans more than 25 countries, and Insitu platforms have logged nearly 1.3 million flight hours operating over land and sea.

Read the full Security Middle East article here.