As part of networking and building stronger connections within society, the Accra Rotary Club visited the 17 Army Signal Brigade at Burma Camp in Accra.

Explaining the motive of the visitation, the former Rotary International Director, Sam Okudzeto, said such engagements help the club to understand the activities of various organizations and institutions.

The mission of Rotary club, is to provide service to others, promote integrity and advance world understanding, goodwill and peace.

Since 2018, the Ghana Army has partnered with Soko Aerial to innovate and enhance their Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) capabilities, aimed at strengthening aerial operational capacity.

Soko Aerial is a local UAV company specializing in aerial data collection using drone technology.

Since its establishment, Soko Aerial has trained hundreds of army officers in drone operations.

Brigadier General Anthony Ntem, in welcoming representatives from the Rotary Club, underscored the army’s dedication to advancing and deploying UAVs in military operations.

“In response to current global trend where the use of of drones has become very crucial in the operation of armies worldwide. The 42 Independent Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron, which is part of the 17 army signal Brigade together with Soko Aerial are actively engaged in developing and deploying UAVs to support reconnaissance, surveillance and other mission-critical activities,” he said.

Despite the progress achieved in the drone project, securing funding remains a significant challenge for the Signal School.

The project’s innovative nature requires substantial capital.

Founder of Soko Aerial Robotics and Director of  Ghana Armed forces Drone Project, Kofi Owusu-Adusei, highlighted the project’s financial constraints during execution

According to him, a lot businesses and corporations do not consider the defense sector during their  Cooperate Social Responsibilities (CSR) to support defense research and innovations.

“A lot of the times you don’t have organizations whose CSR donations or support goes in the direction of the military programs, that has been our challenge. A lot of organizations support a lot of researches but nobody is looking at defense”. He said.

The visitation had an exhibition segment where UAVs and information and communication systems design under the project were put to test.