Celebrating British Science Week – Technology and innovation in HM Coastguard

Saving lives at sea and the coast has been Her Majesty’s Coastguard’s driving force for 200 years. How it carries out its life saving work has changed substantially. These days, the service not only uses technology but takes advantage of innovation to underpin search and rescue.

Our radio sites use the most up to date technology allowing that vital distress call to get through across an incredible 11,000 mile stretch of UK coastline. Our Beacon Registry self service portal https://www.gov.uk/register-406-beacons is now fully online enabling owners to make sure their information is up to date – saving our time and – potentially - their lives in an emergency.

Elsewhere, and in the air, HM Coastguard, the frontline emergency service of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, is investing in search and rescue aviation. Although still in the procurement phase, the momentum is growing in the transition to the UK Second-Generation Search and Rescue Aviation programme – known as UKSAR2G – in 2024.

We are already using remotely-piloted aircraft to boost search and rescue operations, alongside our existing fleet of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft (pictured below). 

In this #BritishScienceWeek, let’s take a moment to be thankful and reflect on how technology not only improves people’s lives – it can save them.

#BritishScienceWeek #999Coastguard

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