Overview
- The trial at the Siero garrison featured a drone controlled through a fiber-optic link and was observed by Defence Minister Margarita Robles and Army Chief Amador Enseñat.
- The work is led by an eight-soldier Observation Platoon formed 18 months ago at Cabo Noval that local reporting describes as the Army’s reference unit for drone operations.
- Regiment chief Col. José Miguel Garcés said the first trial took place in Slovakia and the second in Spain before this latest demonstration.
- Fiber-optic guidance routes commands through a cable instead of radio signals, which makes common electronic jammers far less effective.
- The Army framed drones and counter-drones as a priority and said units will soon add longer-range SIRTAP reconnaissance aircraft based at Virgen del Camino.