ANNAPOLIS JUNCTION, Md.—Boeing’s [BA] entry into a competition to provide day and night cameras for border security has the capacity to integrate a number of cameras and other relatively low-level sensors into a more capable solution should Customs and Border Protection (CBP) eventually want to easily upgrade the system, a company official said recently.
Boeing has proposed its Active Detection and Surveillance System (ASDS) for CBP’s Remote Video Surveillance System (RVSS) program, which essentially calls for pole mounted cameras to be deployed along certain areas of the United States’ northern and southwestern borders, Bryan Palma, vice president for Cyber and Security Solutions, for Boeing’s Electronic and Information Solutions business, told reporters here at the company’s Cyber Engagement Center. CBP already has RVSS systems deployed in two areas of the northern border, both of which were integrated by Boeing, and has legacy pole-mounted cameras elsewhere.
CBP issued its solicitation for the RVSS upgrade in Feb. 2012 and was expected to award a contract to a single contractor by late last summer but the award has been delayed about six months so far.
CBP is also currently evaluating proposed technologies as part of another border security competition, the Integrated Fixed Tower (IFT), which consists of an integrated array of ground radars, day and night cameras, and related communications systems on fixed towers along certain stretches of the southwest border. The IFT effort has been delayed about a year with an award decision expected late this year.
The IFT program is similar to the Secure Border Initiative Network that Boeing began to deploy for CBP but the effort was halted due to delays and cost overruns. Boeing is also competing for IFT.
The sensor package for Boeing’s ASDS solution is ball-shaped and can be customized to allow a customer to reconfigure the system as threats evolve, Palma said. For the briefing, Boeing showed the ASDS equipped a mid-wave infrared camera for day and night use, a day camera, an eye safe laser illuminator to illuminate targets at night, an eye-safe laser range finder, a loud hailer to enable targeted communication over a long distance to a suspected intruder, and a high-power spotlight. The cameras can be used effectively out to a range of about 10 kilometers, Palma said.
Palma said that the spotlight is the only sensor provided by Boeing with the others coming from a range of companies. The ASDS is “plug-and-play” because it has common interfaces to include products from other companies, he said. Boeing deployed the ASDS system last year at the Farnborough Air Show outside of London and security officials there successfully used the system at one point to investigate alleged break-ins to the chalets of some companies.
The sensor package also includes a separate ball-shaped covering with holes for the different sensors to be peer through. The cover creates a masking so that from a distance a person can’t tell what sensors may be in the package, Palma said.
The ASDS solution as proposed to CBP includes a security management platform that provides a user with the sensor feeds displayed on one or more screens as well as the ability to remotely control the sensor package. The security platform can also be sued to manage physical access control.
The security software includes elements of Boeing’s Visual Security Operations Console, which Boeing sells to customers to for use in their command and control centers to display sensor data and manage operations.
In addition to border security, Boeing is marketing its ASDS system for critical infrastructure protection, including port security, pipelines and oil and gas infrastructure.