French regional gendarmerie tests new underwater drone fleet

The Brittany gendarmerie has acquired four underwater drones for its nautical brigades in Lézardrieux, Roscoff, La Forêt-Fouesnant and Quiberon, for a variety of underwater missions.

The drones are equipped with sensors, cameras and propulsion systems to carry out surveillance, detection or reconnaissance missions in underwater environments, offering autonomy and precision in hard-to-reach areas, up to a depth of 100 metres.

"The integration of underwater drones into the Breton nautical brigades represents a major step forward in the field of underwater security and surveillance," said a gendarmerie statement.

"It is a perfect illustration of the modernisation of the gendarmerie's resources in order to respond more effectively to the challenges of tomorrow."

The organisation envisages a number of use cases for the drones, including search and rescue, hull inspections of suspicious ships to combat drug trafficking, waste and wreck identification, and fisheries enforcement

They will also be used to ensure the safety of divers in potentially dangerous areas like water reservoirs, dams, wells and polluted areas, by analysing sites in advance to eliminate any dangers before launching and thus optimising diver immersion time.