Surveillance Drone (Anti-Piracy)

An unmanned aerial system used for early warning and wide-area search in counter-piracy operations. Naval forces fly drones from warships to extend detection range, classify suspicious skiffs and motherships, and cue boarding teams without putting a manned aircraft over a potential Pirate Action Group. Merchant operators and embarked security teams also use small shipborne drones for over-the-horizon lookout in High Risk Areas. The capability supplements, rather than replaces, the bridge lookout and reporting routines that BMP requires; detection at range buys time to harden and report.