Thursday, December 22, 2011

Underwater drones help NYPD secure harbor

From Homeland Security News Wire:

21 December, 2011

NYPD harbor patrol deploying underwater drone // Source: geinvestigations.com


The New York Police Department (NYPD) has a new high-tech ally in its fight to keep the city safe from terrorists.

To help sweep the city’s waterways and bridges of dangerous bombs, the NYPD’s Harbor Unit recently acquired six unmanned underwater drones that help sniff out explosives.

In a recent demonstration, NYPD officers threw the sixteen pound submersible equipped with lights and sonar into the New York harbor and steered it beneath the hull of a colossal tanker moored near the Brooklyn Army Terminal.

Officers were able to guide the drone via a remote control and using its camera search below the ship in real-time. Detective William P. Devine and other drone operators have been trained to identify what biological or radiological weapons look like and where underwater explosives or narcotics are most likely hidden underneath boats....


VERY interesting article. Go read the rest here.

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