“Such a device provides valuable support to border control measures such as fence lines, watch towers, ground patrols, tactical drones and observation aircraft,” said Mr Franklin, citing the need for early warning operators, real time communications networks and smooth coordination with ground combat troops.
Little impact
He, however, cautioned that deploying the airship on its own without effective ground plans would produce little impact.
“Deployed on its own, without an effective border control system, the aerostat will be collecting information that will never be used. It is a security enabler not a replacement,” he said.
Kenya has suffered a spate of deadly bomb and gun attacks on civilians and soldiers by the Somalia-based Islamic militants who are demanding the withdrawal of Kenyan troops from the country.
Mr Franklin said the spy balloons would enable Kenya to collect and relay real time images to control centres for action.
The aerostat system is transportable and equipped with electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) cameras and radio re-transmission equipment, according to the US defence department.
It can be put in the back of a truck and inflated with helium gas at strategic locations.
Our efforts to establish the exact costs and the number of the airborne ships ordered from Kenyan authorities were unsuccessful. The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) referred the
Business Daily to Interior Ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka who had not replied to our text and email queries by the time of going to press.
The Interior Ministry, headed by Cabinet secretary Joseph Nkaissery, was allocated Sh140.6 billion in the new financial year that started on July 1, placing it among the biggest recipients of taxpayers’ cash. The money is earmarked for border security upgrade, police modernisation and motor vehicle leasing.
Mr Franklin reckons that efforts to strengthen security agencies in the fight against emerging threats were welcome but needed a sizeable amount of transparency.
Kenya’s security organs have recently raced to boost their firepower and intelligence gathering capacity to combat emerging threats.
The East African nation early this year expanded its armoured personnel carriers (APCs) stockpile with the purchase of 30 carriers from China at a cost of Sh7.9 billion to be used by police for patrols.
The US defence department’s window for companies to place bids for the Kenyan aerostat system closed on June 17.
Our efforts to find out which firm clinched the deal were unsuccessful as our email queries to the department went unanswered.
US security firms Lockheed Martin and Raven Aerostar are among the possible suppliers of the aerostat.
Asked whether the technology is used in other African nations Mr Franklin said Tunisia, which recently finished the construction of border fences with dedicated security forces along its border with Libya, was a possible candidate.
“Unless the government implements the Somalia border control project, this sort of acquisition is pretty much a waste of money. Local security cannot be enhanced in the absence of well-trained, equipped and organised security units to make use of information from the blimp,” Mr Franklin said.
notuki@ke.nationmedia.com
