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| Border Patrol Buying Unmanned Plane for Mexican Border | |
| 2005-08-31 | |
| SAN DIEGO The Border Patrol says it has acquired an unmanned aerial vehicle to spot human and drug smugglers along the Mexican border. The agency will pay more than 14 million dollars for a Predator B plane, including one year of service and maintenance. The Predator B begins patrolling the border next month. Initially, it'll fly only along the Arizona-Mexico border. The Border Patrol is Predator B's second customer. The contract includes an option for the Border Patrol to purchase a second plane after a year.
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| Posted by:Pappy |
| #10 I might be wrong, but didn't a private citizen's group start flying homemade UAVs along the boarder years ago? |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2005-08-31 16:50 |
| #9 My understanding is that they've been using various UAVs on a "proof of concept" basis for some time, in order to lay out the concept of operations for applying them to border control. All that happened quietly in preparation for this acquisition. |
| Posted by: Omerens Omaigum2983 2005-08-31 16:03 |
| #8 It's good to see something starting to happen with stopping the flood of illegals. |
| Posted by: Jan 2005-08-31 15:08 |
| #7 I kind of like the symmetry of it. Unmanned plane, unmanned border. |
| Posted by: Dreadnought 2005-08-31 10:23 |
| #6 Predator's an expensive, sustained surveil/recon platform which can be armed. Ground control station is sophisticated & ground crew needs training to manage the aircraft. Therefore, it's used only when the payoff appears to be worth it. There are less expensive UAVs for shorter-duration recon use. Wouldn't be surprised if some of them are being used or will be soon. |
| Posted by: lotp 2005-08-31 09:27 |
| #5 A plane a year doesn't cut it for me. How about one hundred? |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-08-31 07:57 |
| #4 Depends if it's ARMED or not!! |
| Posted by: ARMYGUY 2005-08-31 07:25 |
| #3 Probably nothing, BAR, but it should provide some really neat pics and video of the border crossings for use on Hannity and Colmes. |
| Posted by: Chris W. 2005-08-31 01:32 |
| #2 All very fine and dandy, but the question is, what will this purchase do to stem the illegal flow of people and contraband across the border? |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-08-31 01:20 |
| #1 Dang - here's the link Also, more information on the Predator B. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2005-08-31 00:17 |