Border guards in Finland are very interested in the drones made by the Czech company Primoco. It would like to use them to guard the external borders of the European Union, which are mainly adjacent to Russia. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced this.
The Czech Embassy in Helsinki helped introduce the company, and this May, a Finnish delegation visited Primoco’s headquarters, where the company demonstrated the capabilities of their One 150 aircraft in adverse weather conditions.
“In terrible weather, the delegation had the opportunity to see that our aircraft can perform monitoring tasks even in conditions of virtually zero visibility because they do not rely solely on optical sensors,” explained Primoco’s CEO, Ladislav Semetkovský.
Clients from Asia and Africa
“We need to continue the path we have already started of using more and more technical means for border surveillance,” said Matti Sarasmaa, head of the Finnish Border and Coast Guard.
“This will free up the workforce for tasks that still must be carried out by human resources. We are now considering how to put Primoco’s technical solutions into practice in our border control,” Sarasmaa confirmed.
Primoco drones are already used in border surveillance by Malaysia, Iraq, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. So far this year, the company has sold seven drones, with more contracts to be signed.
“Primarily, these are clients in Europe, but we expect deliveries to the Middle East and Africa by the end of the year,” Semetkovsky said.
The company does not want to name other European customers for security reasons, but according to Pravo, deliveries are also heading to places in the East.
With a wingspan of five meters and a weight of 150 kilograms, Primoco drones resemble small conventional aircraft rather than the propeller drones used for filming by amateurs. The machine’s price is around one million euros (roughly 25 million crowns).