Elbit Systems of America on Thursday said it is providing Customs and Border Protection (CBP) with new trailer-mounted intelligent surveillance towers that will fill in gaps for long-range surveillance on the southern border.
The 80-feet tall Intelligent Relocatable Long-Range Surveillance Tower is similar to the Integrated Fixed Tower (IFT) systems the company has provided CBP to enhance situational awareness along certain stretches of the U.S. southwest border, but the new system can be set up within a day for operations and then moved in response to the changing threat patterns, Joel Friederich, vice president of C4I and Homeland Security Solutions at Elbit Systems of America, told Defense Daily during a telephone interview.
More than 50 IFT systems have been deployed, Elbit said. Elbit Systems of America is the U.S. subsidiary of Israel’s Elbit Systems [ESLT].
Like the IFT systems, the new Intelligent Relocatable towers include electro-optic and infrared cameras for day and nighttime imaging, ground surveillance radar, and related communications. The systems feature limited artificial intelligence capabilities so that the sensors can detect and track a potential item of interest and then alert a Border Patrol agent.
The Border Patrol, an arm of CBP, uses Elbit’s TORCH command and control platform to integrate IFT, the Intelligent Relocatable system and other border security sensor systems and technologies to create a common operating picture at the station level and for agents in the field.
Elbit said its new Autonomous Relocatable Surveillance Tower (ARST) system, which features more robust AI and machine learning capabilities than found in the Intelligent Relocatable Tower and IFT systems, was selected in April by the Defense Department’s Combatting Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO) for evaluations for DoD and CBP.
The ARST systems stand taller than the Intelligent Relocatable Towers, 110-feet, offering longer sensor ranges and a broader field of view, Friederich said. The higher-end AI capabilities on the ARST mean the systems can detect, track and identify an item of interest, taking the human out of the loop until necessary, he said.
So, if the ARST system sees something not of interest to CBP, it won’t bother alerting an operator, Friederich said.
The AI enhancements allow the system to watch over more of the border with few agents, which means some agents can return to the field, Elbit said.
The CTTSO will begin evaluating the ARST in the first quarter of 2021 and the contract allows for the agency to procure additional systems if needed for more evaluation, he said.
The Intelligent Relocatable Towers will provide a bridge to the ARST systems, Friederich said. The technology behind the ARST systems could be swapped out for the control logic on an IFT system so the physical appearance of the surveillance system may look the same but the capabilities would be improved, he said.
The ARST can be deployed in less than two hours. The long-range payload includes ground surveillance radar, a high-resolution day camera, and thermal camera. The trailer provides electronic enclosures, security features and a power generator.
Friederich also said both the ARST and Intelligent Relocatable systems are modular and can be adapted to customer needs. Both systems also integrate into the company’s TORCH system.
CBP currently purchases another AI-enabled surveillance tower system, the Autonomous Surveillance Tower (AST) system provided by Anduril Industries. The ASTs are also relocatable but are a shorter-range system, out to about a mile versus greater than seven miles for the ARST.