One of the ongoing challenges for the Homeland Security Enterprise (HSE) is to improve our security vulnerabilities along the U.S./Canadian border, some of which include a lack of persistent surveillance, inadequate communication links to share relevant tactical data, and unavailability of secure mobile devices to view this data.
As part of the HSE’s ongoing efforts to address these vulnerabilities, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) conducted a field test at USBP Havre Sector, held in Sweetgrass, MT, from August 12 – 23, 2019. The event illustrated the potential efficacy of innovative airborne and terrestrial tactical surveillance technologies designed to provide portable situational awareness capabilities with a hybrid communications network. The network connects commercial cellular, local VHF Mesh, and agent-portable satellite communications devices along the remote U.S./Canadian border and improves U.S. Custom and Border Protection’s (CBP) ability to track and prevent incursions in these vulnerable areas.
