FARGO, North Dakota: Federal Customs and Border Protection authorities are preparing to launch unmanned aircraft patrols from this state, the first time such monitoring will occur along the northern border of the United States.
A Predator B aircraft that can fly at 260 miles an hour - it was delivered to Grand Forks on Saturday - will make runs along the northern edge of North Dakota using sensors that can provide video and detect heat and changes to landscape, customs officials said.
The plane, which is about 66 feet long, or 20 meters, weighs more than 10,000 pounds, or 4,500 kilograms. It can fly as high as 50,000 feet and can stay aloft for 18 hours. The first missions, designed to locate people crossing the border illegally or avoiding ports of entry, are expected to start next month.
Similar aircraft have patrolled the nation's southern border since 2005, where they have helped lead to the discovery of more than 18,000 pounds of marijuana and 4,000 illegal immigrants, a spokesman for the agency said.
John Stanton, executive director of the service's national air security operations, said the authorities decided to move to the northern border because enough aircraft had become available. (The base cost for the Predator is about $10 million.)
Everything must be well under control along the Mexican border. |