While citing a series of features and criteria leading to the acquisition process, the Guyana Defence Force said on Wednesday that the new long-endurance drones which the force is acquiring will provide value for money.

The GDF, in a response to a flurry of media reports which first appeared in the privately owned Kaieteur News several days ago, said that it notes with some concern, various analyses on its $180M drone acquisition efforts.

The GDF said that the acquired drones carry full surveillance suites, spares packages for each drone, ground station antennas, computers and accessories, in country training, and eighteen months warranty and support.

In a lengthy press release, the GDF noted that while it welcomes feedback on the subject, it must be noted that mission criteria used for analysis in order to steer conversations along sensible contextual paths must be recognised.

While providing further clarity on the operational considerations of the force in selecting the drones, the army said that the acquisition of the particular platform was made with several considerations.

These include long range, real-time, state of the art, surveillance capability, high endurance and long-distance flight, variable whether flight capabilities , easy and quick deployment, easy and quick field refuelling / recharging as well as easy use by operators.
The GDF also noted other considerations include a simple maintenance and life cycle plan, quiet and limited detectability while in flight, support for narrowband and broadband repeater equipment and manoeuvrability in confined spaces.

“In our analyses to derive a suitable platform, the Force recognised to achieve its first and primary aim, older platforms, such as the aeroplanes and helicopters quoted in some sections of the media, would require a significant retrofit and upgrade to support the surveillance equipment required for modern operations,” the GDF noted.

It said that such older platforms would fail all of the other criteria in its mandate except for support for narrowband and broadband repeater equipment. “The Force also recognised that having a camera operator at a remote site, some distance away from the platform, while the platform performs a pre-programmed or improvised flight plan is a significant advantage,” the GDF said. These observations immediately pointed in the direction of drone technologies, it noted.

It was noted that evaluating drones which met its requirements , required more than a hasty analysis. “It must be highlighted that there was a need to receive live video feeds at distances well in excess of fifty (50) kilometres, while maintaining flight in excess of two to three hours. Most Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) drones can only support live video streams up to a few kilometres (less than ten (10) in most cases) and flight for under one (1) hour,” the army explained.

It added that the platform selected needed to operate in any weather condition as it noted that many commercial off-the shelf drone types were eliminated.
“These basic requirements eliminated many of the COTS, particularly all of the models advertised by Dà-Ji?ng Innovations (DJI), the largest COTS drone provider in the world. By performing a sensible and unbiased analysis, it is easy to discern that a drone meeting the requirements of the Force was outside the realm of COTS drones,” the army said.
The GDF explained that moving ahead with its analysis, it recognized that it needed to
to focus its efforts on drones designed for specialised applications.

The GDF reiterated that the process leading to acquisition of the drones was comprehensive. The force said it firmly believes that its choice of drone acquisition is in keeping with its mandate and will provide value for investment in the missions it will perform.

It added that the adequate due diligence and analyses were exercised in its selection.
“We would also like to state, with the support of the Government of Guyana, the Force has already increased its troop lift capability and will continue to do so with modern aerial platforms,” the GDF added.

Recently, Minister of State, Dawn Hastings-Williams attended a demonstration of one of the drones at the Force’s Base Camp Ayanganna Headquarters, to get a first-hand view of its capabilities.

She was accompanied by Minister of Public Security, Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan, and Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mr. Basil Williams.