FARGO, N.D. (AP) - After two failed tries, an unmanned aircraft expected to be the first to patrol the northern U.S. border completed a flight from Arizona to North Dakota.
U.S Customs and Border Protection officials said the Predator B drone touched down Saturday at the Grand Forks Air Force Base after a six-hour flight from Libby Army Airfield in Sierra Vista, Ariz.
"The aviators all brag about the perfect landing," said Michael Corcoran, deputy director for air operations at U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Air and Marine office in Grand Forks. "I guess we'll brag about this one, as well," he said.
The drone is scheduled to begin patrolling the northern U.S. border in January. Its flights will originate from the Grand Forks base.
Officials were waiting for clearance on air space before deciding on a schedule, Corcoran said.
An earlier flight on Thursday was canceled because of maintenance problems, and a flight Friday was aborted because of poor weather.
The Predator weighs 5 tons, has a 66-foot wingspan and can fly undetected as high as 50,000 feet. It can fly for 28 hours at a time and will be equipped with sensors and radar.
The drone has been in use along the southern border with Mexico since 2005.
Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said the state's congressional delegation had been working for four years to get the unmanned aircraft to North Dakota.
"It is vital to America's security that we protect our borders, particularly the northern border," Conrad said. "The Grand Forks Air Branch plays an essential role in helping shut the door on terrorists who want to sneak across remote border points to strike on U.S. soil."
8 comments:
I think that it is good that they got a aircraft that is big and travel father now and is bigger. I think thats it's good that they put up borders so that terroist and imigrants can't get in and do any harm.
I bet that absolutely made your day.
Poor Mrs. Jenkins, you must give her so much crap.
I think its really amazing how technology has advanced so much over time. We are now patrolling our borders with drones that have a 66 foot wingspan? I think that this air craft can also be proven useful in other millitary excursions, which could help America in the long run.
yay no we can keep an eye on those dang Canadians
i think it is very important that our border with Canada ,being the less supervised and regulated one, be given a little more attention for exactly that reason. it is far easier for someone to go from Canada to the us than to go through Mexico.
this is an awesome technological advancement, not to mention that it's just pretty cool in general...but uh... how does an unmanned plane keep terrorists out of the u.s. from 50,000 feet away? does it like shoot at the Canadians when they get too close to the border or something?
This is really cool but how effective will it be? The US Canada border is huge. Can the unmanned aircraft cover such a large area of land? If this fails will the public be mad at the government for spending so much on it?
Wow, the things you can do these days. Technology is incredible! This is going to be a lot easier keeping an eye on the Canadians!
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