The United States has announced a donation of $13 million to support Bangladesh’s drone project for deployment to UN peacekeeping operations.

The announcement from the US came at the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial where UN Secretary General made an appeal to member countries to strive towards making peacekeeping missions safer.

A statement from the US State department said, “Our pledge includes the provision of at least $13 million in support of Bangladesh’s commitment to develop an unmanned aerial system (UAS) capability for deployment to a UN peacekeeping operation.”

This is part of US government’s “continued commitment to assist the UN in addressing capability shortfalls, including critical intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities that will strengthen mission operations, it said.

Bangladesh, the second largest police and troop contributor country to UN peacekeeping, has pledged a special unit for operational level unmanned aerial surveillance in partnership with the United States.

Apart from the donation of 13 million USD to Bangladesh, the Pentagon will provide training, technology, and subject matter expertise on a variety of topics, including advising the UN on how to incorporate and more effectively employ UAS capabilities into their missions.

With 98 peacekeepers killed last year and this year’s toll already touching 26, there has been a growing demand for making peacekeeping missions safer and member countries are being asked to achieve this goal through contributions of equipment and training programmes.

Peacekeeping advocates have pushed for “smart peacekeeping” that employs latest technology and surveillance equipment to reduce the risks in hostile environments.

Bangladesh and other troop-contributing countries have for long been demanding more sophisticated equipment, better aviation and surveillance units and it’s believed Bangladesh’s drone project in partnership with the US could be a trendsetter.

This year Bangladesh has pledged 26 components to UN Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System (PCRS) including nine components from the Army, six from the Navy, three from the Air Force and eight from the police.