Airbus Defence and Space has finalised the deployment of the National Security Shield (NSS) to the Qatar Ministry of Interior and Armed Forces, covering the entire Qatar territorial waters and land border.

It is operated by the Qatar Border Guards and Coast Guards. This unique fully integrated system for all forces is the most evolved solution worldwide.

The system includes surveillance towers and surveillance vehicles equipped with different sensors such as radars, cameras and direction finders, distributed throughout the territory. Consisting of land sectors, coastal border sectors and offshore site, full coverage of Qatari 600 km borders is now achieved. The main threats it needs to address are illegal immigrant trafficking networks, terrorist groups, piracy, smuggling and illegal fishing.

NSS can be used by all Qatar Defence and Security entities such as Coast Guard, Border Guard, Navy, Air Force and Land Force, as well as by governmental agencies. All the sensor data and images can be accessed from any of the country’s operational sites. Coast Guard, Border Guard Operational Centre (Force headquarters) and the Joint Operational Centre (Joint headquarter) are operational, Navy Operational Centre is ready for operations. 

Over the next two years, additional functionalities such as a training simulation system, documentation management, a web portal for external agencies and an enhanced user management will be delivered to further enhance the system. The construction of the Alternative Joint Operational Centre is under finalization; it will be integrated and able to take over all operations at any time. The Air force, the Land Force Headquarters and the National Crisis Centre will be connected to the system in the coming months.

Furthermore, offshore towers and platforms will be installed and equipped with the National Security Shield, covering the Qatar Exclusive Economical Zone, protecting key assets (oil and gas production) of Qatar.