Two U.S. Homeland Security Dept. agencies' officials are meeting in Miami next month to determine the department's unmanned aerial system needs as it moves to expand their use to encompass maritime surveillance. The requirements symposium is being hosted by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the only civilian federal agency operating a fleet of unmanned aircraft. The Coast Guard, looking to replace a scrapped pilotless aircraft development program, is also participating in the meeting, which may include representatives from the Navy and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-two agencies interested in pursuing maritime surveillance with unmanned aircraft. CBP and the Coast Guard recently split the costs of testing a maritime radar on a General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) MQ-9 Predator B flying 19,000 ft. above Florida's Gulf Coast and the Caribbean. The USCG has been looking for a long-range surveillance capability since halting work on the Bell Eagle Eye vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle (VUAV) it had planned to fly off the new National Security Cutter. Recently it has been in talks with CBP about using a land-based Predator for maritime patrols (AW&ST Feb. 18, p. 27).
展开▼
