Posted on 07/02/2020 12:36:03 PM PDT by BeauBo
That company name is based on the name of the crystal balls in the Lord of the Rings world. I thought Anduril might have been the name of one of them, but it’s the name of a sword in that fantasy world.
These “systems” can be turned off by any leftist Progressive politician, at a moment’s notice. A wall must be torn down. I prefer the wall.
Yes, but are they awesome?
“Yes, but are they awesome?”
According to credible reports, they are awesomely awesome...
“These “systems” can be turned off by any leftist Progressive politician”
Yes, of course. The doors can also be opened in any wall as well, by policy.
To make walls work though, they must be monitored. Otherwise ladders and ropes make short work of them, and people can gradually cut hundreds of holes and tunnels. Monitoring is essential. As Border Patrol emphasizes, effective border control requires three critical elements - Infrastructure (Barrier, roads), Technology, and People.
The bottom line is that this system will be a huge jump in monitoring ability. It can also get out to remote areas, long before barrier could possibly be built (tomorrow for example, if intelligence indicates something).
Powerful surveillance makes Border Patrol more effective, but these unmanned systems, which are as good or better at detection than the manned systems, marks a big change in the potential total effectiveness. It is no longer tightly connected to number of people they afford to keep on shift. A big force multiplier, like a thousand more guys watching like hawks.
Also, these systems can be used for defense in depth, because they are so mobile. Smuggling routes tens of miles inside the border can be monitored, as could supply or pickup points.
There is another similar Technology Program also now in full scale deployment, called the Mobile Surveillance System (MSS), which is a truck mounted extensible mast loaded with cameras, other sensors, and laser designators, that is human operated. The Anduril systems are unmanned.
Border Patrol is getting 100 new upgraded MSS between this year and next, as well as these 141 more Anduril Systems (for 200 total Andurils).
Integrated Fixed Towers (IFT) are bigger permanent masts with bigger sensor capability, and grid electric power, which are lined up along the border to provide persistent surveillance. That is also rolling out smartly. This year, the whole 370 miles of the Arizona Border with Mexico is scheduled to be under IFT surveillance, including the about 60 miles of the Tohono O’odham Nation Indian Reservation, which declined getting new Trump-style Super Wall System.
There are also linear detection systems, going in along the border, like tripwire alarms, which alert on any crossing of the borderline, tunneling, or sawing of the bollards.
Unmanned Ground Sensors (UGS) is another Technology Program, which is deploying many types of unmanned sensors (like disguised game cameras for example, but also sound, vibration, heat, radio frequency, etc), to monitor trails. These are great in rugged mountains.
There are also a variety of aerial systems, from small Officer deployed drones or counter-drone systems, to tethered Aerostats (blimps), to High altitude, long distance Predator drones (both Border Patrol’s own, and additional Military flights).
Even if you have a wall - a great wall (and we are getting it) - Officers have to respond to alarms in the middle of the night, not knowing what they might encounter, or if they will live to return home that night.
With full camera coverage, threats can not only be effectively detected and tracked, but also accurately characterized. A dozen women and children clustering in place by the road, or a dozen fast moving men carrying rifles at the ready? Good to know ahead of time.
Engagements can be monitored live from the command post, in case backup or MedEvac is needed, and they can participate in engagements from the command post, with aerial assets to track runners through the brush.
These new Technology Programs are essential capabilities. They are part of the comprehensive, all of the above approach of the Trump Administration, to give the Border Patrol everything they want to do the job.
They cost much less than barrier (about 1/1,000th the cost per mile in many cases), so they don’t get reported on as much, but they are flooding the zone now (and over the next year or two), and are already making a big operational impact.
There IS no dark to these towers, and they’re not exactly left unmonitored.
They don’t take the place of the wall, they are there to monitor the wall and make sure people aren’t scaling or dismantling it.
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