The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) this month gave approval for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to begin on June 1 flying unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) along a portion of Texas’ border with Mexico. The approval means that CBP will be allowed to operate its Predator UAVs from Fort Huachuca in southern Arizona east to the Big Bend area in western Texas. Currently, under the first part of a Certificate of Authorization approved by the FAA in 2008, CBP is permitted to fly its Predator drones from Fort Huachuca to about 200 miles east to Deming in southwest New Mexico. The Big Bend area of Texas is several hundred miles southeast of Deming. Along the way lies El Paso, just over the border from Juarez, Mexico, a city best by drug-related violence. The FAA originally limited UAV flight operations to between Fort Huachuca and Deming until CBP was able to develop appropriate plans for safety of flight operations in the West Texas region. In addition to Fort Huachuca in the southwest U.S., CBP plans to base a Predator UAV at Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, Texas, as soon as agreements and resources are obtained to sustain a permanent UAV presence there. CBP currently has five General Atomics-built Predator UAVs and is expected to take delivery of two more this year. In addition to operations along the southwest border, the Predators are also used along a 230-mile stretch of border between North Dakota and Canada. The UAVs are equipped with various sensors such as electro-optical and infrared cameras, surface search radar and a ground moving target indicator.