European Union reveals plans to have fleet of drones patrolling the English Channel for illegal immigrant boats
Fixed-wing unmanned aircraft would monitor movements of commercial vessels and be able to home-in on speedboats missed by satellites
DRONES could be used to patrol the English Channel for illegal immigrant boats.
The EU wants to use them to spy on suspicious craft that are not picked up by satellites.
The European Union is in talks with European Maritime Safety Agency boss Markku Mylly over launching the 'flying spies' along the continent's northern coast.
The fixed-wing unmanned aircraft would monitor the movements of commercial vessels and be able to home-in on the smallest speedboats that are missed by satellites.
A team of 17 would pilot them from Lisbon in Portugal, and £66 million has been set aside to built the first fleet.
Europe's air-traffic controllers would first need to agree rules to ensure they do not crash with large aircraft.