Elbit Systems of America on Monday said it has integrated a fiber optic-based system used for ground and underground surveillance along portions of the southern border into its TORCH command and control platform used by the Border Patrol.
The integration of Sintela’s Linear Ground Detection Systems (LGDS) is another example of the flexibility of the company’s TORCH system.
“Aided by the TORCH System’s autonomy and artificial intelligence (AI), Border Patrol agents will be able to more safely and efficiently perform their national security duties,” Joel Friederich, vice president for C4I and Homeland Security Systems at Elbit Systems of America, said in a statement. “We are pleased to partner with Sintela, making Elbit Systems of American now the exclusive U.S. distributor of their market leading and fully compliant LGDS system.”
Elbit Systems of America, the U.S. subsidiary of Israel’s Elbit Systems [ESLT], has also integrated cameras, gimbals, laser range finders, laser pointers, radars, unattended ground sensors, and intelligent lighting for the border wall on the southern border into TORCH.
In an interview with Defense Daily in June, Friederich said Elbit’s AI capabilities make it easy on users of TORCH by automatically identifying items of interest through sensors, linking different sensors together to track an event, and then automatically alerting agents if necessary.
Earlier this year, Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency for the Border Patrol, awarded Sintela a potential $6.4 million contract to maintain the LGDS, which is being used to enhance situational awareness for cross-border intrusions in support of the border wall system along certain parts of the southern border. Sintela is based in the United Kingdom and has an office in Houston.
Elbit Systems of America also supplies the Integrated Fixed Tower surveillance system to the Border Patrol. The IFT system, which is deployed along certain parts of the southern border, consists of day and night cameras, radar and related communications equipment.