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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
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New Predator on the Prowl Along The U.S.-Mexican Border in Arizona

BY AMY YARNALL

U.S. agents are again using an unmanned spy plane developed by San Diego’s General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. to watch for illegal activity along the 2,000 miles of U.S.-Mexican border in Arizona.

“Pilots” on the ground use a device similar to a joystick to fly the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, or UAV, from a control station in Sierra Vista, Ariz.

The aircraft, the Predator B, is the second to be purchased by the Customs and Border Protection Agency after the first one crashed in April just 20 miles north of Nogales, Ariz., due to pilot error. This second Predator B will cost $7.7 million, compared to $10 million for the first.

Since its first use, the Predator B has assisted in apprehending terrorists, drug smugglers and illegal immigrants, filling in as the officers’ eyes and ears. The original craft accounted for more than 3,500 arrests and seizure of over 10,000 pounds of marijuana.

“The Predator B is what Predator A should have been. It’s endurance, radar systems, sensory and video surveillance technology are what makes it a very capable platform all around,” said Michele Merluzeau, analyst and director for airborne systems at Frost and Sullivan in Washington, D.C.

The second aircraft was manufactured in San Diego in 2001 and will continue to assist in arrests and drug busts.

“This unmanned aircraft system provides us with the situational awareness we need to more effectively deny illegal entry to our nation’s borders,” said Ralph Basham, commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. “Our frontline agents deserve proven, effective technology that equips them to secure our borders and to prevent terrorism.”

A market study released in March by Frost and Sullivan showed the UAV market fluctuating at $2 billion to $3 billion per year and a growth rate of 5.5 percent for the next five years.

General Atomics has delivered 15 Predator B’s and has over a dozen requests for additional aircraft, according to a spokesperson.

“The homeland security and border security issue is significant but definitely not in terms of the volume of aircraft being developed,” Merluzeau said. “The use of UAVs for border security is a complimentary technology but it is not a solution.”

General Atomics said Customs and Border officials plan to order two more aircraft to be used on the northern border of Canada and in the Caribbean.

The protection agency purchased its first aircraft and control station for $10 million. The aircraft alone cost $6.5 million.

“We make entire airplanes that are reliable and require minimum maintenance and are up and running every day nobody makes this kind of airplane,” said Thomas Cassidy, president of aircraft systems group for General Atomics.

The second Predator B will be equipped with enhanced satellite technology to make surveillance from 50,000 feet much more effective.

“The camera (equipment) on the Predator B is large, and will allow the aircraft to see with clarity, you can see all day and all night the radar allows us to see through cloud cover,” said Cassidy.

The Predator B is armed with enhanced radar imagining and infrared cameras and can fly for 30 hours without refueling. “No human can fly that long,” said Cassidy.

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