Nigeria Inaugurates Maritime Surveillance System

The Nigerian Navy has begun use of the Israeli-designed, UAE-built Falcon Eye mass surveillance system for purposes of maritime domain awareness (MDA) in the Gulf of Guinea.

The waters off the coast of Nigeria are notorious for piracy, especially kidnappings and oil theft, and the technology is intended to help the country's armed forces combat maritime crimes. Rear Admiral Raphael Osondu told media that piracy is a persistent threat to Nigeria's economy, and that countering it is a key priority for the military.

Falcon Eye's six electro-optical stations provide for the monitoring of aircraft, vessels and offshore oil infrastructure. The system has a range of up to 35 nm from the coast, well beyond the 12 nm limit of Nigeria's territorial seas.

Admiral Osondu added that the new system covers “the blind arcs which we experience in some parts of our territorial waters with the Regional Maritime Awareness Capability (RMAC) system.” RMAC is an American-sponsored coastal surveillance system using AIS and ground-based radar to track maritime traffic, and was deployed in the Gulf of Guinea in 2011.

“The Falcon Eye will aid the Nigerian Navy with a better and more accurate system to monitor and conduct activities in Nigerian Maritime Domain and her EEZ,” he added. The Nigerian Navy's training center for the system has already prepared some 70 personnel to operate Falcon Eye.

Falcon Eye is the end product of a seven year arrangement between Israeli entrepreneur Mati Kochavi's Asia Global Technology (AGT) and the UAE-based companies Advanced Integrated Systems (AIS) and Advanced Technical Solutions (ATS). The system has been installed in multiple shoreside applications in the Emirates, including the Abu Dhabi City Surveillance project, which integrated feeds from 500 cameras to provide automated analysis of security video.

In 2014, aerospace and defense firm Airbus announced a contract with the UAE military for two new optical surveillance satellites to add capability to Falcon Eye in the Emirates. Whether coverage will extend to other Falcon Eye clients was not specified.

In addition to the Nigerian military's shore-based surveillance systems, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has said that it is considering the acquisition of drone aircraft for MDA purposes.