DHS Mulls Maritime Predator as Northern Version Takes Flight
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By Stew Magnuson and Matthew Rusling
The first Customs and Border Protection Predator B unmanned aerial vehicle arrived in December at Grand Forks, N.D., where it will conduct regular patrols of the northern border.
Meanwhile, work continues at its manufacturer, General Atomics, to develop a maritime version of the UAV that will patrol the Caribbean, Gulf Coast and other seas surrounding the United States.
Kimberly Kasitz,, spokesperson for General Atomics, said the company is proceeding with development of the maritime version of the Predator at its own expense in anticipation that CBP will purchase the first drone at the end of 2009.
The maritime version must have a 360-multi-mode maritime radar and automated identification system. AIS receives data from ships with 300 gross tonnage or more, which are now required to carry beacons that transmit their speed, direction and identity.
Once this work is complete, future Predator Bs can be quickly reconfigured for land or sea operations.
“This can be accomplished in only a few hours,” she said.
CBP and the Coast Guard carried out operational UAV tests in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico in March.
Coast Guard officials have said that they are interested in using a land-based maritime UAV to expand the service’s surveillance capabilities. Its own aerial drone program, the Eagle Eye, which was supposed to fly off the new National Security Cutters, ran into technical and funding difficulties, and there is currently no plan in place to replace it.
The Predator B slated for the northern border arrived only a few weeks after the publication of a Government Accountability Office report that criticized the Department of Homeland Security for not providing Congress the information it needs to improve security on the northern border.
“The lack of this information makes it difficult for Congress to consider future actions and resources needed,” GAO said.
DHS responded that it is working on strategic plans that will provide direction and spell out vulnerabilities there.