On September 8, at a handover ceremony at the Coast Guard base at Staubles Bay Chaguaramas, the US government donated four riverine craft and satellite equipment to the Coast Guard worth US$1.6 million. The donation coincided with the launch of the Coast Guard's newly refurbished maritime operations command centre.
National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, in his remarks at the ceremony, described the donation as timely and said the modernised operations centre uses radar, satellite imagery and other cutting-edge technologies to track threats within TT’s maritime borders.
While the protection of maritime borders is laudable, there is also a need to prevent the penetration of TT’s sovereign airspace by unauthorised aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that may be engaged in illicit activities.
In August 2018, a three-day Drone Expert Forum was organised by the Interpol Innovation Centre and Counter-Terrorism unit based in Singapore, with the support of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Netherlands Police. The conference was attended by approximately 100 experts from law enforcement, academia and private industry.
A key finding of the forum was the potential use of drones in a terrorist incident or attack against critical infrastructure and other national and business targets.
This is a growing concern for international law enforcement, as the availability of drone technology is becoming less expensive and more widespread globally.
Drones can be weaponised and, when coupled with artificial intelligence (AI), can be pre-programmed to strike at specific targets.
In 2007 the TT Civil Aviation Authority (TTCAA) began developing specifications for a secondary surveillance radar (SSR) system for air navigation purposes.
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Prime Minister Patrick Manning asked for the TTCAA to include a primary surveillance radar (PSR) system in the package with adequate range for the surveillance of TT’s sovereign airspace.
SSR works in conjunction with an onboard air traffic control (ATC) transponder.
Before an aircraft departs ATC will issue a four-digit squark code, which the pilot will select on the aircraft transponder.
Once the aircraft is airborne, the SSR continuously interrogates the transponder, which replies to each interrogation signal by transmitting encoded data such as the aircraft type, flight number, heading, speed and position. This information is displayed on the air traffic controller’s radar screen.
However, aircraft engaged in illegal activities such as smuggling can switch off the transponder, which makes the aircraft invisible to SSR.
On the other hand, a PSR system can detect every moving airborne object. PSR transmits a signal from the radar antenna site which is reflected or bounced back from a moving object such as an aircraft. The radar then amplifies the reflected signal to determine the speed and size of the object and displays the target on the radar screen.
Manning’s concept
