The first unmanned surveillance aircraft started patrolling the Manitoba portion of Canada’s border with the U.S. after a launch ceremony was held on Monday. Based at a military facility in Grand Forks, N.D., the $10-million Predator B drone aircraft are equipped with sensors capable of detecting a moving person from 10 kilometres away.
They will gather information as they fly along the 400-kilometre border and transmit it to operators who will in turn contact border agents. The drones will not carry weapons, such as missiles or laser-guided bombs, and the U.S. will need permission to send them into in Canadian airspace…
U.S. border protection official Michael Kostelnik said that in these “dangerous times,” it’s more important than ever for both countries to know who and what is crossing the border.
“There are vast parts of the border where, on any given day, we’re not sure what’s going on, so part of this is to try to deal with the unknown and not be surprised,” Kostelnik said.
Unarmed, eh?
The Bush mentality lingers on. To bad he could speak Mexican farm hand Spanish and not English. He might have considered Canadians valuable friends then.
So when will they put them on the Mexican border?
Sigh…so much for the land of the free and the home of the brave! We’re now going for the total security route!
#19 Named – You are probably right. Let’s just hope that the pharmaceutical lobby doesn’t get to task the drones. It will be arms, legs and artificial hips splattered the length of the border.
Too much weed is coming down from the Great White North. More of the criminally insane “War on Drug” bullshit. Just more support for the inevitable merger of the Prison Industrial Complex with the Military Industrial Complex.
I hope this keeps American military deserters out of Canada!!!!
I live only about 30 minutes north of the border, and welcome the extra eyes.
There are unimaginable amounts of weed and narcotics crossing the border near here, and a lot of the crap that goes with it stops in my town along its way. I think the next closest legal crossing is about 200 miles away….too much room for the bad guys to play with.
Thank God. If it keeps those funny talking communists to the south of us from the crossing the border then I’m all for it.
Wouldn’t installing land mines be cheaper?
To stop all those resourceful, innovative Mexicans, who sneak into the US via Canada.
Probably part of United States Northern Command or Boeing’s Secure Border Initiative. Boeing was having problems implementing the initiative along the U.S .- Mexican border.
The electronics can spot a moving person from 10 km away. How about deer/elk/moose? Could be a lot of false alerts. Then again, it could be a real money maker for entrepreneurial operators when hunting season rolls around.
Ah yes. An excuse to ALSO…. harden the US border from cheaper patent drug shipments. And future draft dodgers. A draft is coming, you can bet on it. Because Canadians aren’t interested in sneaking into the US, in any great numbers. And this drone won’t spot any more smuggling tunnels. Like the one that was uncovered a few years ago. Wouldn’t it be cheaper to put up some remote cameras, on towers. A single flying camera drone burns up a lot of fuel, over time. If this is a long term concern, why not use a long term solution. Probably because the drone’s maker lobbied for it.
#1 YA you bet! Nothing, not even those inept idiots Cory and Trevor can stop it!