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UAV monitors Riocentro region during Rio +20
It is the first time that an unmanned aircraft is used on an urban center in Brazil.
For the first time since it began to be operated by the Brazilian Air Force, remotely piloted aircraft (ARP) is being used in a large urban center. Also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), the RQ 450 monitors the region Riocentro during the conference of Heads of State of Rio + 20. Through sensors and cameras transmit images in real time to the Operational Control Center (CCOP).
The ARP can perform monitoring traffic and crowds, and actions recognition, search, surveillance and intelligence. "Our work is separated from regular traffic. We were in the region where the airspace is restricted, "said the commander of the Horus Squadron (1 º / 12 º GAv), Colonel Donald Grankow. He said the aircraft has flight range of up to 15 hours. "We stand for hours monitoring the same point," he says.
From inside a shelter specially fitted for military operations, pilots are able to control the aircraft from miles away via a data link system. The ARP allows aerial reconnaissance missions with the ability to transmit images in real time to any location in Brazil.
The Horus Squadron, Air Force Base located in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, is the only unit of the Brazilian Air Force to operate the ARP. The RQ-450 is manufactured by a company in Israel and beyond the military, can also be employed in the area of public safety, the control of deforestation and civil defense operations.
The aircraft has 450 pounds of takeoff weight and can ship multiple sensors simultaneously. It measures 6 feet long by 8 meters wide (from the tip of one wing to another). It flies at 110 km / h, can reach about 5000 meters altitude and remain in flight for over 15 hours.
The Rio + 20 is one of the largest operations in which the UAV is employed. The aircraft also conducted missions during Operation Agate I, in Manaus (AM), in August 2011. On occasion, the RQ-450 located a clandestine airstrip that was later bombed by fighters from FAB.
It is still worth noting that where the operation of UAV´s in urban centers have a relatively common practice, as they discuss the issues of right to privacy involving, as it seems that it is an ever-growing trend worldwide.
Fonte (parcial): FAB.