How CBP Leverages Drones to Secure Borders and Enhance National Security: DRONELIFE Exclusive Interview

U.S. CBP deploys drones in multiple ways to complete its mission

By DRONELIFE Features Editor Jim Magill

(The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol deploys a wide range drone types of to help fulfill its mission to safeguard the nation’s borders, enhance its economic prosperity and protect the American people. CBP’s pilots fly everything from small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS), used to track smugglers crossing the border, to the military-level MQ-9 Predator B drones, which are typically dispatched to gather intelligence, and to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance over land and water. DroneLife recently conducted an email interview with a CBP spokesperson to learn how the federal agency is expanding its use of UAS technology.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.)

DroneLife: What kind of missions are your drones used for?

CBP: CBP’s MQ-9s are typically dispatched for land or maritime domain awareness intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). Land ISR missions aim to ensure that the borders of the contiguous U.S. are monitored for illegal movement of people between ports of entry. The maritime ISR mission typically involves detecting and monitoring vessel traffic in the maritime domain and, in coordination with partner nations, interdicting vessels that are suspected to be transporting illicit goods or people.

CBP’s mission encompasses multiple facets of national security to include border security as well as facilitating lawful trade and travel.  While the use cases for sUAS are broad, their deployment is primarily to aid our workforce toward a successful law enforcement resolution with respect to officer safety and protecting privacy, with the highest degree of accuracy and efficiency.

All CBP UAS platforms currently deployed operationally have been vetted by the DOD, are NDAA-compliant, and meet DHS cybersecurity requirements and vulnerability assessments.  All makes and models that CBP selects are based upon mission-success, safety in the national airspace and fiscal responsibility.

DroneLife: How many drones do you have in your fleet?

CBP: CBP is a leader among federal law enforcement drone technology users within the continental United States (CONUS). Specific numbers are law-enforcement sensitive.

DroneLife: What special qualifications do you require for your pilots?

CBP: CBP’s pilots require a valid pilot’s license, completion of CBP law enforcement training and completion of AAMO aviation training.

For U.S. Border Patrol, all of the small UAS pilots are agents or officers first.  Then, they must complete an online ground school, visual observer training, Part 107 certification, and must complete the basic operator’s course for each specific sUAS that they operate.

DroneLife: Are all the drones in your fleet Blue UAS compliant?

CBP: All of our UASs are Blue UAS compliant. CBP has obtained limited-use waivers where necessary.

CBP evaluates many aspects of UASs to include the origin of all components, secure communications capabilities and any software vulnerabilities to safeguard both national security and the privacy of the public.

DroneLife: What capabilities do your drones have: RGB cameras? Infrared camera? Facial recognition?

CBP: CBP relies on a variety of technological capabilities that enhance the effectiveness of agents on the ground. CBP’s mission and the varied environments that we operate in demand a wide range of sUAS.

DroneLife: Is the CBP certified to operate BVLOS flights?

CBP: Yes. CBP has an agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration to operate UAS beyond visual line of sight.

We coordinate closely with other federal partners and aviation stakeholders to secure authorities and capabilities that provide for public safety and national security. Any BVLOS permissions CBP has had are temporary and predicated by meeting additional standards to ensure operations are conducted with maximal consideration for the safety of crewed aviation and persons on the ground.

DroneLife: How does the use of drones help CBP accomplish its mission of helping to secure the U.S. border areas?

The MQ-9 UAS is a substantial force multiplier. It has unparalleled flight endurance coupled with state-of-the-art EO/IR cameras and radars. It is operated by highly trained and experienced agents of CBP and members of the U.S. Coast Guard, and can detect illicit movement approaching/moving through our borders, monitor that movement through austere environments such as rugged terrain and the maritime environment, and direct our agents and law enforcement partners to affect an interdiction.

DroneLife: Does the CBP have authority to interdict drones crossing into the US from Canada or Mexico?

Yes, under the Preventing Emerging Threats Act of 2018, CBP has the authority to interdict unmanned aircraft that pose a credible threat to designated covered facilities and assets was well as agents and officers on the ground.

CBP has mitigated unmanned aircraft that posed a credible threat, in proximity to the U.S. border within U.S. National Airspace.

DroneLife: Do you plan on expanding your drone program in the near future? If so, in what ways?

CBP: CBP intends to grow both in terms of numbers deployed and capabilities that not only enhance mission success but do so with respect to safety.  Safety is vital to an aviation program, and we are committed to upholding the highest standards.

We are always looking for ways to grow in order to better safeguard our Nation. CBP’s SUAS vision is “See Farther, Patrol Smarter, and Make America Safer with Unmanned Technology.”  This industry and the associated capabilities are growing rapidly and affording CBP opportunities that have never been possible.

CBP monitors UAS technology updates for current and emerging technologies which could aid in carrying out its law enforcement mission.

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Read more:

• SkySafe Wins Contract to Enhance Border Security with Drone Detection Technology
• Rising Surveillance: The Challenge of UAS Incursions at the U.S.-Mexico Border
• Garuda Aerospace Announces Launch of Trishul: Border Patrol Surveillance Drone

Jim Magill is a Houston-based writer with almost a quarter-century of experience covering technical and economic developments in the oil and gas industry. After retiring in December 2019 as a senior editor with S&P Global Platts, Jim began writing about emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robots and drones, and the ways in which they’re contributing to our society. In addition to DroneLife, Jim is a contributor to Forbes.com and his work has appeared in the Houston Chronicle, U.S. News & World Report, and Unmanned Systems, a publication of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.