The first unmanned surveillance aircraft started patrolling the Manitoba portion of Canada’s border with the U.S. after a launch ceremony was held on Monday. Based at a military facility in Grand Forks, N.D., the $10-million Predator B drone aircraft are equipped with sensors capable of detecting a moving person from 10 kilometres away.
They will gather information as they fly along the 400-kilometre border and transmit it to operators who will in turn contact border agents. The drones will not carry weapons, such as missiles or laser-guided bombs, and the U.S. will need permission to send them into in Canadian airspace…
U.S. border protection official Michael Kostelnik said that in these “dangerous times,” it’s more important than ever for both countries to know who and what is crossing the border.
“There are vast parts of the border where, on any given day, we’re not sure what’s going on, so part of this is to try to deal with the unknown and not be surprised,” Kostelnik said.
Unarmed, eh?
Ah yes. An excuse to ALSO…. harden the US border from cheaper patent drug shipments. And future draft dodgers. A draft is coming, you can bet on it. Because Canadians aren’t interested in sneaking into the US, in any great numbers. And this drone won’t spot any more smuggling tunnels. Like the one that was uncovered a few years ago. Wouldn’t it be cheaper to put up some remote cameras, on towers. A single flying camera drone burns up a lot of fuel, over time. If this is a long term concern, why not use a long term solution. Probably because the drone’s maker lobbied for it.
#1 YA you bet! Nothing, not even those inept idiots Cory and Trevor can stop it!