A specially equipped Dash 8 surveillance aircraft operated for the Home Office has been conducting overnight and early morning patrols over the English Channel, according to recent flight-tracking data and official sources.
The aircraft, a De Havilland Dash 8-315 ISR registered C-GFMX, is operated by Canada’s PAL Aerospace under contract to the UK Government’s Small Boats Command. The company says the aircraft will be based at Lydd Airport in Kent for an initial deployment of 18 months.
The modified twin-turboprop carries advanced radar, electro-optical sensors and communications equipment designed to detect and monitor small vessels in one of the busiest maritime zones in the world. The aircraft’s onboard systems feed real-time intelligence to UK immigration enforcement officers and Border Force teams, helping identify suspected smuggling operations and coordinating responses with assets at sea.
According to PAL Aerospace, the Dash 8’s mission is to “increase border security while collecting evidence that will help investigators bring people smugglers to justice.” The aircraft and its crew form part of the company’s Force Multiplier programme, which provides governments with turnkey access to special-mission platforms, trained operators and data-processing tools through its proprietary CarteNav AIMS-C4 system.
The deployment adds to a growing airborne surveillance network over the Channel. Aircraft of this type operate alongside drones and other patrol assets managed by the Home Office, which together maintain near-continuous watch on the main routes used by small boats departing northern France.
Flight-tracking records reviewed by this publication show C-GFMX departing Lydd shortly before 2am on several occasions in recent weeks, flying extended orbits off the Kent coast and across the Dover Strait before returning at first light.
The Home Office has not commented on the specifics of these operations but has previously said that aerial surveillance plays a key role in its efforts to “disrupt criminal networks, safeguard lives and secure the UK’s borders.”
Whats the point of this unless we then deploy Border Force boats to intercept them and turn them around and send them back to France.
We would be better keeping the money we send to France and deploying our own force to stop them mid channel and send them back. The cost of this would be more than covered by the current cost of accommodation, food and processing of these illegal entrants and make our country a whole lot safer.
Be fair. They need to know how many more hotel rooms to book this week.
I would smile, but given the Home Office views and actions, I could almost think you might be correct.
Yes its like a top hotel resteraunt finding it usefull that they have a booking for 150 hungry guests today . While French Police look on and count how many customers they lost today at the beach
Let’s face it you can’t simply force a boat to turn back if they don’t want to and you can’t tow them back to France without the cooperation of the French who don’t really want them either. In theory if the French did cooperate and block the launch of boats and took them back and put them back in the camps the migrants would eventually get the message and go somewhere else.
Its a start.
I think it should be the front end of an operation with Apaches tasked to ‘blow’ by downdraft the large RIBs back into French waters. Perhaps preceded by a few rounds across their bow a couple of hundred meters ahead of them.
At the cost of howls of angst from some in the UK it would send a real message to the smugglers, a message the UKGov seems unable to send atm.
Probably only needed for a few days as the returning RIBs would put a big spanner in the currently very smooth EU/French police operation to send their undesirables to the UK.
Good idea, let’s shoot at the migrants, and then use our attack helicopters to potentially capsize the boats! These are the real leaders of our time. After all, we know that the only two options available are open borders or mass murder.
How many unarmed people on boats should we murder before we decide if the ‘policy’ is working or not? Will you be collecting the bodies that wash up on the south coast, to send back to France??
Well If it were me, I’d paddle all the way to Mauritius. Hot Climate, Sunshine, Seafood and all the free money you could shake a coconut tree at.
Im amazed they dont dingy to Jersey and Gurnsey , much nicer climate and Restaraunts
It does little of that the waffle from the Home Office says.
It is just another asset to give warning of incoming boats so they can be met and brought ashore.
It doesn’t protect the UK.
It doesn’t secure borders.
It doesn’t smash smugglers who aren’t even there.
It doesn’t stop the boats.
We remain a civilised country and will want to rescue people in distress, and I will always believe that despite being firmly in favour for stronger immigration controls.
That some of these people might be planted terrorists, with no ID papers, well, what else to do.
We can try to deport those that fail and that itself creates howls of angst from the usual suspects, and every deportation is challenged in the courts with the aim of slowing or stopping it.
There are insidious forces at work in my country.
You do what Australia did with the boat people.
You come illegally you get put in a camp, very civilised but the only options are be deported to original country or stay in the camp.
That’s it full stop. Within a couple of years the boat people stopped coming.
As the x Australian Pm said “the uk was one of the nations that said they acted illegally”
He said our politicians don’t have the guts
I agree, absolutely!
However, as they are coming we cannot just shoot them or turn them back like others suggest on the high seas, we are not the Einsatzgruppen.
Once they are on land, safe, and under our control ( if they have nor legged it into the black economy yet ) then you deal with them as you suggest.
Mate, I don’t understand why the French authorities don’t arrest the thugs operating the inflatables and destroy the boats ? Surely it cant be that hard? Perhaps the French simply wish to move the problem onto the UK. There is no doubt the Australian process of detaining illegal immigrants offshore is an effective policy. Personally, I’d ship the UK lot off to an internment camp in the Shetlands.
Hi mate.
Of course they do!!! And you know what, I don’t blame them. They want to leave and be someone else’s problem.
Shetlands yes, or Ascension ( if civvies in non government service were allowed)
Agreed. The left would have a pink fit…look at what happened when Reeves tried to make just a small reduction to the welfare state, the left of Labour went ballistic.
Cheers DM – my cheery prediction for 2026 , expect a lot of Gazan males arriving! 😁
😡
Photographed. Eyes mapped, DNA taken. Together with finger prints then all added to the Digital ID system. At least we have a record in case of future misdemeanours. It’s then more chance of getting rid of them later.
The dinghies could easily have their outboard engine disabled with a high pressure water hose just on the edge of French territorial water (this is the Chinese Coastguard way of doing things) and still well away from UK Territorial water.
Then the French would be morally obliged to rescue the occupants.
Two weeks and the problem would be solved.
An interesting choice of aircraft to put this kit on, the Dash8. It’s usually on smaller business jets. Although Saab stuck a radar on top of the Saab 340, which is a similar size I think.
The Aussies operate 10 Dash 8 s for border surveillance , a massive amount of ocean to cover.
Detection is part of the solution. Certainly preventing people slipping into the country and the black economy is required. But of course they’d still claim asylum having been apprehended so other parts of the process need reform to speed up case reviews, tighten approval criteria, reduce appeal rounds and prevent last-minute legal challenges/lawfare. Also, pull factors like our loosely regulated labour market need looking at.
Unless the government has a coordinated approach paying for an aircraft to buzz around is a complete waste of money.
Tracking the dingies across the channel serves no purpose.
Evidence is always a better basis for decision making than assumptions or bias.
I’m guessing that this is part of a bigger puzzle that we can’t yet see as cost avoidance is a civil service mantra.
The value for money question is always reasonable parliamentary oversight.
Seems the map highlighs a badly broken relationship between France & UK? France wants to solve the Channel problem just as much as UK. But that UK aircraft can’t get an approval to stray into French airspace over the centre of the channel. Perhaps this article should centre on why the map looks so depressing for UK/French relations?
It looks like the new Home Secretary is looking to Denmark for ideas on how to reduce immigration numbers.
And already the left of her party are moaning that it’s too extreme.
Window dressing. People want action, not words.
These people are all words. So were the Tories.
Shabana Mahmood gives me the impression that she is prepared to force through a Danish style system. Many would say it is ‘far right’ in its approach. That said, it is proven to work and avoids leaving the ECHR. Since both the Rwanda and ‘one in one out’ schemes are gimmicks I wish her well.