Aussies worried about illegal imigrants?

[xoxoxoBruce]

SYDNEY (AFP)--Unmanned spy aircraft are being tested for Australian border patrols against threats at sea, including boatloads of illegal immigrants, the government said Friday.

The Border Protection Command has launched a six-week trial of the planes from a base at Weipa in the far northeast to assess the technology for use in civil maritime surveillance, Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus said.

"UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are quiet, virtually undetectable and can maintain extended surveillance of a target area or vessel for many hours at a time," Debus said in a statement.

The aircraft had flown successfully over the Gulf of Carpentaria, the Torres Strait between Australia and Papua New Guinea and the Great Barrier Reef during the trials.

"All are areas of interest to Border Protection Command in preventing illegal foreign fishing, keeping a watch for quarantine and border threats and detecting prohibited activities in protected marine areas," he said.

Surveillance against illegal immigrants trying to reach Australian shores by boat would be part of the spy planes' duties if they are put into full-time service, a spokesman for Debus told AFP.

"This trial will assess the suitability of UAVs to boost surveillance of critical offshore maritime areas, including the vital Torres Strait border region and the environmentally sensitive Great Barrier Reef," Debus said.

The Border Protection Command will prepare a report for the government at the end of the trial in June.

The aircraft under test is a Heron operated by Israel Aerospace Industries. It has a wingspan of 16.6 meters, is 8.5m long and has a range of more than 1,800 kilometers.

Smart move, I think.