Wed, Dec 28, 2011
CBP UAV Fleet Now Totals 9 Aircraft
The US Customs and Border Protection received an Unmanned
Aircraft this week, the fourth to be based at National Air Security
Operations Center Sierra Vista, Ariz. Flights performed from this
location reportedly will provide critical aerial surveillance to
CBP border security personnel on the ground along the Southwest
border. The arrival of the Predator-B marks the second of two
unmanned aircraft earmarked in the supplemental budget provisions
identified in August 2010.
CBP's Unmanned Aircraft Systems operate under several
FAA-approved Certificates of Authorization that enable CBP to
deploy a UAS in the national airspace. On the southwest border, the
first COA allows access into Texas from Arizona to just west of the
Big Bend border area. The second COA enables CBP to launch and
recover a UAS from Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas, and to
operate along the entire Texas land border with Mexico, the coast,
and over open water.
On the southwest border, CBP now operates a total of six
Predator-B's from SierraVista, Ariz., and Corpus Christi, Texas.
The missions from these two centers will allow CBP to deploy its
unmanned aircraft from the eastern tip of California across the
common Mexican land borders of Arizona, New Mexico, and
Texas.
CBP identified Arizona as a location for its ninth UAS because it
will allow for the greatest support of the CBP Air and Marine
Strategic Plan to secure the shared land border between United
States and Mexico, and will allow for the most effective execution
of counter-drug operations and Homeland Security missions.
Additionally, basing a fourth UAS in Sierra Vista will best
posture CBP for rapid deployment throughout the southern tier of
the U.S. and the Western Hemisphere. This operational capability
increases CBP's ability to provide disaster relief and humanitarian
support in the Gulf Coast region.
Since the inception of the UAS program, CBP has flown more than
12,000 UAS hours in support of border security operations and CBP
partners in disaster relief and emergency response, including
various state governments and the Federal Emergency Management
Agency. The efforts of this program has led to the total seizure of
approximately 46,600 pounds of illicit drugs and the detention of
approximately 7,500 individuals suspected in engaging in illegal
activity along the Southwest Border.
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