takes them to the European mainland.
Now they are faced with the prospect
of prompt deportation back to their
home countries. Despite this dismal
consequence, thousands of others
have come to Europe in 2016 alone
through the Mediterranean routes—
while others have drowned in leaky
boats. Frontex wants to make both
scenarios much rarer occurrences in
the near future. Nowadays even the
most conservative security experts
are no longer convinced that barbed-
wire fences and the cruising military
ships are enough to accomplish this.
And so there is currently a paradigm
shift taking place among strategists
in Brussels Belgium, and in Warsaw.
Instead of building higher and higher
fences and walls, the EU has been
massively expanding its surveillance
measures with the help of Frontex.
The satellite surveillance from space
that is already going on is only the tip
of the iceberg. Thus the European
border-surveillance system known as
Eurosur is being further expanded.
The high-tech system includes drones
and reconnaissance equipment as
well as offshore sensors and robots.
In addition, newly developed diving
platforms for conducting surveillance,
state-of-the-art radar systems, and
electronic sniffer dogs for “detectionTHE HEART OF FRONTEX
In the command center of the European
border-control agency Frontex, satellite
images indicate the position of refugee
boats that have been detected. From here
the special unit coordinates operations
in the Mediterranean Sea.Project: Aeroceptor
WILL AUTONOMOUS HELICOPTERS
SOON BE PATROLLING THE COASTS?The autonomous Aeroceptor drones will soon
replace patrol boats, helicopters, and border
fences. The first prototypes of these flying robots,
which are intended to halt and keep out boats and
cars with the help of electromagnetic shock waves,
fast-hardening polymer foam, and pyrotechnics, have
been financed by the EU to the tune of over $5 million.
According to the official description of the project,
Aeroceptor will be used to stop vehicles that contain
terrorists and smugglers of drugs and weapons, but
not for the purpose of keeping out refugees. It’s not
yet clear how this technology will be implemented.
The project’s test phase ended in May of 2016.The border-protection robot known as TALOS
(Transportable Autonomous patrol for Land
bOrder Surveillance system) — which has already
undergone its first rounds of testing as a prototype,
is equipped with the latest surveillance technologies
instead of weapons: radar, cameras, sensors, on-board
data processing. The robot would patrol borders totally
automatically, combing the terrain for illegal migrants
and sounding the alarm when it discovers them so
they can be picked up by border-protection troops.
Cost of development: $21 million. It’s still unclear if
> and when it will go into production.Project: TALOS
WILL COMBAT ROBOTS GUARD
EUROPE’S BORDERS?