submitted a request to hand over the drones to Colombian police to 'support eradication operations throughout Colombia'.The US government says it wants to use drones because it minimises the risk to police in the field who are typically tasked with identifying and destroying coca plantations.
These can often be protected by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and ambushes, or even dangerous wild animals such as jaguars.The request said: "Coca cultivation in Colombia remains at record highs and eradication operations in Colombia remain dangerous.
INL Bogota is seeking to bolster the CNP's capability to increase the coca eradication rates and minimise the risk for police personnel in the field." The request specifically stated that Chinese-made drones could not be used, owing to surveillance fears among the US government.
The document says: "The system cannot contain major hardware (e.g. flight controller) flight control firmware, or mission planning software manufactured in China.
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