China to use drones for maritime surveillance
Xinhua and Staff Reporter 2012-09-24 17:05
A man operates a UAV in Jiangsu province. (Photo/Xinhua)
China will promote the use of drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), to strengthen the nation's marine surveillance, the country's State Oceanic Administration said on Sunday.
The administration verified and accepted a pilot program of using drones to undertake remote-sensing marine surveillance in Lianyungang, a costal city in eastern Jiangsu province on Sunday.
With the experience learned from the pilot program, the administration will try to form a managerial system and technical regulations in a bid to set up UAV surveillance and monitoring bases in provinces along China's coastline by 2015, Yu Qingsong, a division chief of the administration said.
In addition, the administration will step up efforts to enhance its surveillance of islands and islets in the East and South China Seas including the Diaoyu Islands and Huangyan Island (Scarborough Shoal), which are claimed by more than one party.
According to the administration, the use of pilotless aircraft in remote-sensing marine surveillance is relatively flexible, low-cost and efficient, compared with the performance of satellite remote sensing, aerial remote sensing and field monitoring.
