American and Portuguese engineers are ready to help Mozambique acquire the expertise in assembling and eventually manufacturing drones by setting up a lab in a few months, state media reported Friday.

The Mozambican news agency AIM said though drones are "infamous" for their role in U.S. warfare in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the ones to be produced in Mozambique will be used for "peaceful purposes," notably in maritime surveillance.

Maputo's Eduardo Mondlane University are partnering with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States and the Engineering Faculty of the University of Oporto in Portugal for setting up a drone lab and the technology could be available in six to eight months, it said.

The report said the use of drones can dramatically reduce the cost of patrolling the oceans. A patrol ship costs about 40,000 U. S. dollars a day, but an unmanned aircraft does not cost more than 20,000 dollars a year.

The surveillance drone has been used by Portugal, as well as other European countries, for tasks such as search and rescue missions, oceanographic and hydro-graphic surveys, and enforcement of maritime laws.

Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony, has an extensive coastline of about 2,500 km facing the Indian Ocean. Endi

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