By Calvin Biesecker

Appearing before a House panel yesterday that is unhappy with the work done so far on a high-technology electronic border security project, government and industry officials admitted that Project 28 isn’t optimal yet but said they have learned lessons to improve on the system and future deployments.

Border Patrol agents who are using the new technology went from feeling excited about getting the chance to begin working with an initial version of the system last May to being skeptical in September when Project 28 was struggling with integration challenges, Richard Stana, director of Homeland Security and Justice matters with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), told the House Homeland Security Subcommittees on Border and Oversight. Then earlier this month about the time the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was ready to fully accept Project 28, agents were resigned to the fact that the system would need to have its equipment replaced so it was time to “move on with the lessons learned,” he added.

Indeed most of the hardware that has been installed for Project 28, which refers to an initial proof-of-concept deployment of the system along a 28-mile stretch of border with Mexico in the Border Patrol’s Tucson, Ariz., sector, will be swapped out this year for new equipment.

Boeing [BA], which is the systems integrator for Project 28 and subsequent installments of the electronic border, opened a systems integration lab in Huntsville, Ala., last year when it was having trouble making the various sensors, data and communications links work together. That lab will be used to test the new equipment prior to being installed in a spiral upgrade to Project 28 this year.

One lesson learned is the need to “test and integrate systems components in a lab environment prior to installing them in the field,” Roger Krone, president of Boeing’s Network and Space Systems Division, told the joint panel.

Another lesson was the need for improved command and control software. Boeing has opened a command, control, communications and intelligence Common Operating Picture (COP), Rapid Application Development, Joint Application Development lab in Northern Virginia to help in its ongoing development of a new COP it is developing for Project 28 and subsequent deployments. The software used in the COP that is currently deployed as part of Project 28 was based on a commercial system used for public safety dispatchers but has “proved to be inadequate for the command and control of a sensor net and the distribution of a near real-time situational picture,” Jayson Ahearn, deputy commissioner at Customs and Border Protection, said in his prepared remarks. The upgraded COP is expected to be deployed this year.

The next-generation COP in development is being referred to as Version 0.5 and is based on a government owned and tested command and control system, Ahearn said.

Boeing will also open a mission analysis and assessments lab this spring to improve system capabilities and to design and model future deployments, Krone said.

“All of these facilities are allowing “shoulder-to-shoulder joint development by contractor and government user teams,” Krone said, pointing to another lesson learned, which was the lack of involvement by Border Patrol agents that are using the system during the requirements generation process. He said that when Boeing began to train agents on the initial Project 28 system the company was surprised to learn of additional capabilities they wanted. Krone blamed Boeing for not reaching out sooner to the agents.

Difficulties with the initial Project 28 testing and the need to upgrade it with newer equipment this year, have led DHS to slow the planned deployment of the electronic fence project, which is part of the larger Secure Border Initiative. Later this year, in addition to the upgraded Project 28 coming on line, Boeing is expected to install another sensor network in a separate border stretch of the Tucson Sector. By the end of 2011 the remaining technology deployments in the El Paso, Texas, and Tucson and Yuma, Ariz., Sectors of the Border Patrol are expected to be completed, GAO’s Stana said.

Later this year DHS and Boeing are planning a prototype demonstration of an integrated air, land and maritime border security solution in the Great Lakes Region of Michigan. The SBI program office last week issued a Request for Information (RFI) for the new prototype project seeking input from contractors with experience with high resolution surveillance sensors and systems for application in a northern border riverine environment, but quickly pulled the notice because the work will likely be done by Boeing under a new task order. The company is likely to issue its own RFI for the new demonstration.

Despite the trip-ups in Project 28, the system has its bright spots in that it is being used and is helping the Border Patrol interdict illegal migrants and smugglers.

Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar said the new technology and current COP has been a “force multiplier,” allowing agents at a command center to observe illegal activity and then direct field agents to the appropriate area.

Still, Democrat and Republican members of the House Homeland Security Committee decried the lack of transparency in the SBI program and criticized Project 28 for not living up to expectations they believe were established by DHS.

“I’m frustrated by the delays” with Project 28 and there needs to be testing of the hardware and software before future deployments, Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Terrorism, said. Souder wants DHS to present a schedule for adding infrastructure and technology under SBI.

Last June officials from CBP and Boeing testified before the committee that Project 28 was on track and was ready for delivery to the government in a weeks time. The next day DHS sent a letter to Congress that Project 28 would be delayed due to integration difficulties. Last week DHS finally accepted the system.

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.), chairman of the Border panel, complained that DHS has been shifting the expectations of what Project 28 was supposed to accomplish.

The GAO’s Stana said Project 28 had two original goals. One was to test the system of systems concept, which has been done and shown that the system isn’t optimal but that if the lessons learned are applied then it all could be worthwhile. Second, he said, was that Boeing was expected to leave behind an operational capability once DHS accepted Project 28. Here, he said, the fact that most of the equipment that makes up Project 28 is going to be swapped out means the second goal wasn’t met.

Greg Giddens, the CBP official in charge of managing SBI, said the Project 28 equipment will be swapped out at the expense of taxpayers because DHS has accepted the system. He disagreed with Stana that not all of the initial program goals were met, saying the system meets standards and will allow the Border Patrol to explore operational concepts.