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Department of Homeland Security Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Operating in Arizona to Support Border Security

Release Date: 06/25/04 00:00:00

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010
June 25, 2004

(Fort Huachuca, AZ) --The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today announces the first sustained civilian use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to curb illegal activities along Arizona’s southern border.  Two Hermes 450 UAVs will be used as part of the Arizona Border Control (ABC) Initiative to assist with border surveillance activities and augments manned aircraft, helicopters and ground sensors already in place.  The UAV flights will be controlled and monitored by U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Border Patrol and are scheduled through the summer of 2004.

The UAVs are equipped with electro-optic sensors and communications payloads which provide around-the-clock images to CBP Border Patrol agents. These aerial vehicles permit greater border coverage and quicker response times in the rugged, desolate areas of the Southwest border. The UAV launch is a significant, cooperative effort among DHS’s Border and Transportation Security (BTS) directorate.  Hundreds of law enforcement officers from local, state, tribal and federal agencies in Arizona, including personnel from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), CBP, U.S. Border Patrol, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), are working in close cooperation with the Department of Interior and Department of Defense to ensure this technology’s success under the ABC Initiative.

"The development of UAVs in protecting the borders of the U.S. demonstrates the commitment this Administration has to testing new technologies and systems to better secure America. This is another example of the Department's support to gain operational control of the Arizona border,” said Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security Asa Hutchinson.

The ABC Initiative is a first-of-its-kind effort to achieve an even safer and more secure Southwest border.  It supports the priority mission of Homeland Security agencies to detect and deter terrorist activities and cross-border illegal trafficking of people and drugs.  

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This page was last modified on 06/25/04 00:00:00