President Alan García announced today a multi-million dollar investment to update Peru’s air surveillance network. The investment includes the purchase of eight radars and a satellite communications system that will allow Peru to better control its air space, the state news agency Andina reported.
According to García, the investment will allow Peru to supervise 84 percent of its national air space, providing increased safety for civil aviation and better national security. Currently, only four percent of the country’s air space is covered.
“It can’t be that a country which is growing has a radar system that only covers four percent of its territory,” said García. “All of the rest is darkness.”
The eight radars will also allow Peru’s Airport and Commercial Aviation Corporation, or Corpac, to provide surveillance for 95 percent of Peru’s civil aviation routes, said the Minister of Transportation and Communications, Enrique Cornejo.
“This means modernization, efficiency and security,” said Cornejo. “All of this translates into better service for Peruvians and foreign visitors that are arriving in greater numbers to our country.”
The eight radars were purchased from the Spanish information technology giant, Indra, for $38 million. France’s Ineo GDF Suez will install the aerial surveillance network, which will reportedly take two years to complete. The radars will be installed in Arequipa, Ayacucho, Cajamarca, Cusco, Iquitos, Pucallpa, Talara, and Lima.
