Falcon Eye Achieved Zero Piracy, Reduced War-Risk Premiums By 80% – Firm

Security and technology firm, RTCOM Defense has credited its Falcon Eye maritime surveillance system with helping Nigeria eliminate piracy in its territorial waters and significantly reduce war-risk insurance premiums for commercial shipping.

The chief executive officer of RTCOM Defence, Gerard Levy, made the assertion while responding to questions on the performance of the Falcon Eye project, describing the system as a game-changer in Nigeria’s maritime security architecture.

According to Levy, the Falcon Eye system has detected and intercepted hundreds of illegal and irregular maritime activities since its commissioning in July 2021, although he noted that many operational details could not be disclosed for national security reasons.

He argued that the platform’s effectiveness should be measured not solely by the number of vessels intercepted but by its strategic deterrence capability.

“Maritime Domain Awareness means strategic deterrence as an operational outcome. It is measured not in the vessels captured, but the reduction in overall illegal and hostile activity due to Nigerian Navy deterrence and capabilities,” he said.

Levy explained that before Falcon Eye became fully operational, Nigeria’s maritime domain was plagued by surveillance gaps that enabled piracy and other asymmetric threats to flourish.

He said the system now provides a real-time operational picture across Nigeria’s 850-kilometre coastline and more than 200,000 square kilometres of ocean by combining data from multiple sensors with artificial intelligence to generate actionable intelligence.

According to him, the technology has compressed the time between detecting a threat and intercepting it from several hours to just minutes.

Levy said the operational impact of the project was reflected in what he described as “zero piracy attacks” in Nigerian waters by the end of 2021, citing the subsequent removal of Nigeria from the global list of piracy-prone areas maintained by the International Maritime Bureau.

He further claimed that improved maritime security resulted in an immediate 80 per cent reduction in war-risk insurance premiums for commercial shipping while also contributing to a significant decline in crude oil theft and illegal bunkering at sea.

“The empirical evidence remains undeniable: the Falcon Eye architecture stands as a global benchmark for maritime domain dominance. By transforming the region from a critical piracy epicentre to achieving absolute zero, and maintaining that state of sustained deterrence ever since, we have established an unprecedented operational record,” he said.

Addressing comparisons between Falcon Eye and the Federal Government’s Deep Blue Project, Levy dismissed suggestions that the two initiatives perform similar functions.

He explained that Falcon Eye is an independent command, control and multi-sensor intelligence fusion infrastructure developed for the Office of the National Security Adviser, with the Nigerian Navy serving as its principal operational user.

In contrast, he said, the Deep Blue Project is a NIMASA-led initiative designed to provide physical response assets such as vessels, aircraft and tactical vehicles.

“Falcon Eye acts as the eyes, ears and mind of Nigeria’s maritime domain awareness. Ships and helicopters are important for enforcement, but only if you know where and when to send them,” he said.

On the persistence of smuggling and illegal activities in inland waterways, Levy attributed the challenge to surveillance gaps beyond Falcon Eye’s operational coverage.

He disclosed that RTCOM Defence has proposed a complementary surveillance solution known as Hawk Eye, designed to monitor Nigeria’s backwaters, oil terminals and critical energy infrastructure in real time.

“If Nigeria proceeds to deploy Hawk Eye, it will provide the intelligence necessary to eliminate illegal bunkering, sabotage and siphoning before they impact national stability,” he said.

Levy also called for a shift in Nigeria’s defence procurement strategy, urging the Federal Government to prioritise long-term investments in artificial intelligence, software and sovereign data infrastructure rather than relying solely on hardware acquisitions.

Looking ahead, he revealed that Falcon Eye is undergoing major upgrades, including the integration of next-generation sensors, advanced AI-driven analytics, cyber defence capabilities, unmanned aerial surveillance and satellite intelligence.

He added that the Federal Government plans to extend the intelligence-led surveillance model to inland waterways through Hawk Eye and eventually apply the same doctrine to land-based security operations aimed at tackling terrorism and banditry.