Surveillance Drones Used In Afghanistan May Monitor US-Mexico Border

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443404004577581751184540464.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsFifth

The U.S. military is joining with border-patrol officials in a new initiative that could bring dozens of surveillance blimps from the battlefields of Afghanistan to America's border with Mexico.

Over the next few weeks, the military will oversee a test in south Texas to determine if a 72-foot-long, unmanned surveillance blimp—sometimes called "the floating eye" when used to spot insurgents in Afghanistan—can help find drug runners and people trying to cross illegally into the U.S.

The project is part of a broader attempt by U.S. officials to establish a high-tech surveillance network along the border and find alternative uses for expensive military hardware that will be coming back from Afghanistan, along with the troops.

In addition to the blimps, border officials are exploring more than 100 other types of military gear, from hand-held instant-translation devices that could be used at crossings to sensors that can monitor up to a 10-mile diameter area for days at a time.

Last year, the department pulled the plug on a billion-dollar initiative, known as SBInet, after concluding that the troubled "electronic fence" involving cameras, radar and other devices would be unable to provide the unified border-monitoring system once envisioned.

The U.S. military is offering the surveillance drones to border officials free of charge, said Mr. Borkowski. If the tests are successful, the military could provide Homeland Security with dozens of blimps and other surplus gear worth $27 million—a significant chunk of Mr. Borkowski's annual equipment budget of $100 million to $130 million.