Europe-wide anti-terror exercise coordinated by Europol

European special units have trained in seven EU member states for terrorist attacks. The aim of the exercise was to harden against „Islamist“ as well as „right-wing or left-wing ideologies“.

European special task forces held a Europe-wide exercise on Tuesday and Wednesday to deal with „terrorist situations“. The police units wanted to train the common approach to attacks and hostage-takings. According to the Ministry of the Interior of Baden-Württemberg, the individual scenarios were conceived „realistically based on past attack scenarios“.

The exercises were carried out via the ATLAS network, in which 38 special police units from all EU Member States as well as Iceland, Norway and Switzerland are organised. Founded after the attacks of 11 September 2001, the network has been part of the EU structures since 2008. Europe-wide anti-terror exercise coordinated by Europol weiterlesen

More autonomy for drones

Unmanned aircraft do take-offs, landings and even aerial battles independently. If they can avoid other airplanes, drones can even fly in civil airspace.

A US-American long-range drone of the type „Reaper“ has completed an automatic take-off and landing procedure for the first time. This was announced by the manufacturer General Atomics on its website. The two manoeuvres were carried out by the US Air Force in August. The military used a drone of the latest MQ-9 Block 5 series. The „Reaper“, flying with a turboprop engine, remains in the air for more than 24 hours. It carries a payload of 1.7 tons and can be equipped either with sensors for reconnaissance or with weapons. Even when armed, the „Reaper“ flies with a high-resolution front camera and a radar unit. More autonomy for drones weiterlesen

The contested Mediterranean

Private rescue organizations are put on the chain. In the middle of the standoff about the ship „Aquarius“ Frontex starts the surveillance with drones and wants to give the coordinates of refugee boats to Libya.

The Libyan coastguard becomes the doorkeeper of the European Union. The body will receive intelligence data from Frontex to stop boats with refugees in coastal waters if possible. The information could come from long-range drones with which the Border Agency has been monitoring the Mediterranean since Thursday. Initially, this is a pilot project for the use of two military drones from Italy and Israel; regular operations could start from 2019. At least this is what it says in an earlier draft of the work programme for EU satellite surveillance. The contested Mediterranean weiterlesen

Airbus working on deadly swarm of drones

The next generation German combat aircraft should fly in swarms with drones. The capability is currently being tested at the Baltic Sea.

The European armaments company Airbus has begun flight tests on a military training area of the German Armed Forces to use formations of manned and unmanned aircrafts. According to the daily Die Welt, Airbus is testing the swarm flight in combination with a manned fighter jet in Putlos-Todendorf on the Baltic Sea. This so-called „Manned Unmanned Teaming“ (MUT) is to be used in the new combat aircraft that Airbus and the French company Dassault Aviation intend to jointly develop over the next 20 years. However, the swarm flight capability is to be available for other aircraft as early as 2025. Airbus working on deadly swarm of drones weiterlesen

Belgium wants passenger data of bus and train travellers from Great Britain

The EU directive on the use of passenger data requires airlines and other travel providers to provide personal data to the competent authorities before each trip. Belgium is the first EU Member State to apply this to land-based means of transport.

The Belgian government has decided to extend its passenger data system to coach and rail travel. This is what the International Railway Journal writes. It is therefore initially a test phase. According to an agreement with the British government, Belgian authorities receive the data of passengers using the Eurostar long-distance train, which runs between Brussels and London in the tunnel under the English Channel, before each arrival. Flixbus is the first bus company to take part in the exchange of passenger data. It is unclear whether the travel agencies in which the bus and train journeys are booked are also obliged to transmit the data. Belgium wants passenger data of bus and train travellers from Great Britain weiterlesen

The European Border Intelligence Service

With EUROSUR, the EU Commission has a powerful border surveillance system at its disposal. It brings together reconnaissance data from aircraft, drones and soon also aerostatic balloons. Based on the images, a Frontex unit then decides on further measures in the „pre-frontier area“.

The EU border agency Frontex has launched a series of new surveillance methods in the Mediterranean. This was written by EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos in response to several questions from MEP Sabine Lösing. The capabilities are part of the EUROSUR border surveillance system launched by the European Union five years ago. It links the Frontex headquarters in Warsaw with the border authorities of the 28 Member States. Through their national coordination centres, Frontex is informed of all important incidents at the external borders of the European Union. According to the latest figures, around 148,000 irregular migration incidents have been reported since EUROSUR was set up, and around 33,000 have concerned organised crime. The European Border Intelligence Service weiterlesen