MUROS – Security Architectures in the EU

The Greek border police are using a sound cannon and drones on a new border fence, and the EU Commission expresses its „concern“ about this. However, it is itself funding several similar research projects, including a semi-autonomous drone with stealth features for „effective surveillance of borders and migration flows“

On Monday, the Associated Press (AP) news agency had reported that police in Greece plan to deploy a long-range sound cannon at the external border with Turkey in the future. The device, mounted on a police tank, makes a deafening noise with the volume of a jet engine. It is part of a system of steel walls that is being installed and tested along with drones on the 200-kilometre border with Turkey for migration defence. The vehicle, made by the Canadian manufacturer Streit, comes from a series of seized „Typhoons“ that were to be illegally exported to Libya via Dubai.

After the AP report about the sound cannons went viral, Commission spokesman Adalbert Jahnz had clarified that it was not an EU project. „Greece: EU Commission upgrades border surveillance – and criticises it at the same time“ weiterlesen

A German company builds special vehicles with surveillance technology. They film demonstrations, wiretap telephones or coordinate swarms of drones at EU external borders.

In the EU security research project ROBORDER, European border authorities are testing various drones for controlling land and sea borders. An unmanned ground vehicle, a long-range drone, a surface drone and an underwater drone operate independently and in swarms. Several sensors deliver videos and geodata of suspicious vehicles or ships. Unauthorised border crossings on land are monitored using thermal imaging cameras or radar equipment.

Tests are carried out on the Greek island of Kos in the Aegean Sea. All recordings converge in a mobile situation centre. The vehicle comes from the German manufacturer Elettronica from Meckenheim in North Rhine-Westphalia and is based on a Mercedes Sprinter. Under the product line „Public Security“ it is sold as „Multirole operations support vehicle“ (MUROS). Elettronica receives around 430,000 euros from the EU Commission for its participation in ROBORDER. The Greek Ministry of Defence is also involved in the research into swarms of drones, so the results could be used for military purposes. „„Discover, identify and interfere“: The MUROS from Meckenheim“ weiterlesen