[Fresh Ink] Unmanned drones to patrol state-Canada border

[Richard Menec]

(American tax dollars hard at work....)

<http://www.startribune.com/local/39644257.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUsr>

Star Tribune                    February 16, 2009

Unmanned drones to patrol state-Canada border

By BOB VON STERNBERG

After a couple of false starts, Predator unmanned drone aircraft are 
scheduled to start roaming the Canadian border this week.

State and federal officials will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony today at 
Grand Forks Air Force Base, where the first Predator arrived in early 
December.

That ceremonial milestone had to be delayed twice because of a maintenance 
problem and turbulent weather.

The Predators, unarmed versions of the aircraft being used in the 
Afghanistan and Iraq wars, have been patrolling the Mexican border since 
2005. The Grand Forks, N.D., base is one of five outposts along the northern 
border where the aircraft will be based.

Equipped with radar and optical sensors, the Predators are capable of flying 
up to 260 miles per hour at altitudes up to 50,000 feet for more than 18 
hours.

The drones are operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. They transmit 
their images and data to operators who can alert border agents on the 
ground.

Operators of the border agency's fully loaded, $10.5 million Predators use 
the drones' radar imaging and infrared capabilities to "light" a target at 
night with a laser visible only through the night-vision goggles of 
helicopter crews who intercept some of the people crossing the Mexican 
border.

>From October 2006 through a year ago, the drones had helped in the 
apprehension of 3,857 illegal immigrants and the seizure of more than nine 
tons of marijuana, according to the most recent statistics available.

Currently border agents arrest about 4,000 people who illegally come into 
the United States a year from Canada and seize about 40,000 pounds of 
illegal drugs.

Landing the Predators was a coup for the Grand Forks base, which is slated 
to lose its fleet of KC-135 tankers in the next few years. Air Force 
officials say they hope as many as 20 drones eventually will be based there.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Bob von Sternberg . 
612-673-7184

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