Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has accepted and deployed an integrated radar and camera tower system in a third area of the southern U.S. border, Elbit Systems of America, the manufacturer of the security system said on Tuesday.
The Integrated Fixed Tower (IFT) system is now deployed in the Sonoita, Ariz., area of responsibility, making it the third successful deployment of the system, the company said. Previous deployments were in the Douglas and Nogales, Ariz., areas of responsibility.
Elbit Systems of America is a Texas-based subsidiary of Israel’s Elbit Systems [ESLT].
The IFT systems consist of radar, electro-optical and infrared cameras, and command and control software that combines sensor data into a common operating picture for use by Border Patrol agents to monitor, track, identify and classify illegal activities along certain stretches of the southern U.S. border. The systems provide the Border Patrol with around-the-clock surveillance coverage within a sector.
CBP accepted the Sonoita deployment on Jan. 19. The deployment consists of eight sensor towers.
Elbit is currently installing IFT systems in the Tucson and Ajo, Ariz., areas of responsibility. For those deployments, the company is replacing Block 1 systems put in by Boeing [BA] under the terminated Secure Border Initiative Network, better known as SBINet.
A CBP spokesman told Defense Daily that the IFT systems in Tucson and Ajo are expected to be operational by December 2018.