Ghana has achieved a significant military milestone with the indigenous manufacture of its own Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, the AeriusPro.
- Ghana has locally developed the AeriusPro, an advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that represents a significant milestone in the nation’s military capabilities.
- The AeriusPro is deployed for surveillance in northern Ghana, addressing security challenges in Bawku and Binduri regions.
- The UAV combines VTOL functionality and fixed-wing design, making it suitable for operations in challenging terrains without requiring infrastructure like runways.
- The system enables Ghana to monitor strategic areas, enhance threat detection, and counteract illegal activities in remote locations.
The invention is already being put to practical use after its deployment to the Bawku and Binduri regions of the West African country, cities known to struggle with security threats.
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The deployment in Bawku and Binduri is intended to address the intricate security situation in northern Ghana, where there are frequent conflicts between communities and threats from extremist activities in the nearby Sahel region.
The AeriusPro keeps an eye on important routes and border crossings, particularly in areas where regular ground patrols encounter difficulties because of challenging terrain or the possibility of ambush.
Partnering with the Northern Command and the Army Special Brigade, the 93 Signal Regiment of the country’s military has been put in charge of the system’s technical administration.
Ghana’s AeriusPro
The AeriusPro is a fixed-wing VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) unmanned aerial vehicle that combines the launch flexibility of multi-rotor drones with the efficiency of conventional fixed-wing aircraft.
Its design avoids the requirement for paved runways and catapult systems, making it suited for northern Ghana’s difficult terrain.
After gaining altitude using vertical lift motors, the UAV switches to forward flight with a horizontal propeller, providing greater endurance and cruise speeds than typical quadcopters.
This provides continuous surveillance of strategic areas, as seen on MilitaryAfrica.
One notable feature of the AeriusPro is its complete connection with the Sigtrack situational awareness platform.
As a C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) suite, Sigtrack collects live video feeds and data and overlays them on digital maps for operational usage.
This creates a single operational picture (COP) for field operators and Northern Command headquarters, lowering decision-making time during high-speed security crises.
It enables the Army Special Brigade to efficiently trace movements across borders or monitor critical mining regions, while infrared and high-definition imaging aid in proactive threat assessment.
Illegal mining frequently takes place in isolated locations that are challenging to see from the ground.
With the deployment of the drone, Ghanaian authorities can pinpoint these locations and coordinate enforcement thanks to the drone’s continuous surveillance.
