Border Protection agency outlines new plans for unmanned aircraft.

• Position: SECURITY BEAT: Homeland Defense Briefs

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Customs and Border Protection will expand its unmanned aerial vehicles' areas of operations to the northern border and the Caribbean and will set up its own command and control center.

Douglas Koupash, acting program manager for unmanned aerial systems and the executive director of mission support at CBP, said the agency's new air strategic plan calls for three aircraft to operate along the southwest border, and one in the north stretching about 1,200 miles west of Detroit.

CBP currently has two operating on the southern border. The agency was scheduled to take delivery of one new Predator B aircraft in November and a second in January. Wildfires near the manufacturers' plant near San Diego may push the schedule back, he said.

The plan calls for 18 aircraft, although that might be adjusted downwards if a lower number is deemed to be sufficient, he said at an Institute for Defense and Government Advancement conference.

There will be operational tests in May next year carried out with the Coast Guard to determine the UAVs' utility in the Caribbean, he said. The Predator will fly from Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida. The Navy and Air Force will also participate in the project. In addition, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is interested in using the aircraft to keep tabs on tropical storms, he said.

"This could end up to be quite a diverse program office," Koupash said.

In the north, CBP will eventually expand its area of operations east from Detroit to monitor the Great Lakes. Unlike the first five UAVs, the contract calls for the sixth Predator to be built for the maritime environment...