How U.S. Border Patrol Uses sUAS to Enhance Officer Safety
Quinn Palmer of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) discusses the diverse uses of small UAS in border patrol security during a panel at UAS Innovation Day.
- The Border Patrol's executive agent for all of CBP, it's a component within
- CBP, a little bit about CBP, Customs and Border Protection.
- Um, one of the components, we're the executive agent for all of CBP.
- We're the most prolific user within the agency of small
- unmanned aircraft systems.
- Uh, we have about 500, uh, assets operationalized throughout the
- United States. We have about 2,000 operators trained,
- certified. Um, and CBP responsible for border security,
- but also, uh, the, the regulating and facilitating,
- uh, legitimate trade and travel into the United States,
- so all air,
- sea, and airports of entry.
- So we, our operational domain, if you go our, our environments cover
- the gamut of the continental United States,
- uh, 13,000 miles of linear land border, uh,
- double that in coastal maritime environments.
- Um,
- we piloted,
- uh, small UAS as an agency
- 10... and tacitly in '15, but really, um, first couple of, of,
- uh, assets were, were procured and, and testing began in earnest in
- '17.
- Uh, obviously, uh, GOTS systems, um, in partnership with some of
- our DoD, uh, partners.
- Um, and we've since grown, so there was, it went from five, you know, five years
- ago to 500, uh, and we're, we're nearing our full
- operational capability in terms of inventory size,
- um, finding every day, you know, different use cases, mission sets.
- We base our full operational capability based on, it's an acquisition plan, it's
- acquisition plan language, but it's based on the operational
- requirement as
- defined by the different field locations. Okay. And that fluctuates. Mm-hmm.
- And, uh, as the capability fluctuates, it'll,
- it'll, it'll, you know, translate into a different assortment
- of what and where needs to be deployed when. Right.
- The ISR, uh, is, is the bread and butter.
- Um, obviously the Border Patrol being the mo-
- more prolific user, uh, within CBP,
- um, we have about three drones flying at any
- minute of any day.
- Mm-hmm. So and that's, it's, it doesn't sound like much, but
- when you think about
- most of our drones only fly for 30 minutes, it's pretty...
- We're, we're putting some mileage on them.
- Um, and that is the ISR mission, the, the, the detection, um,
- classification, identification of
- folks coming illegally into the United States or, or,
- or smuggling contraband into
- the United States. But, uh, we also have a significant trade mission,
- and we
- see, um, utility in the future, uh, you know, with, uh,
- different type of, uh, sensor arrays that maybe become isotope or radiation
- sniffers. Uh, we're utilizing it for natural disasters,
- obviously providing
- situational awareness as a response agency, mapping.
- Um, you know, we make better training products for the
- drones.
- So we're, we're, we're, we've, we've got them, uh, at every niche
- and corner-
- Mm-hmm ... within the agency, and again, they're, they're being developed every
- day. The time savings and the safety associated with our tower
- climbers.
- [laughs] Right, right. Uh, it's just, it's, it's become a very significant piece
- of, um, fu- potential future investments. Yeah.
- I, I see the, the one to many, um, really is
- requiring more of a system of systems- Mm-hmm ...
- uh, infrastructure, which, which we currently do not, um,
- field, uh, for various reasons. Um, but, uh, the one-to-one
- works for us.
- And I was listening to the conversation, uh, hard act to follow by the way, uh, the
- gentleman you had up here just a minute ago.
- Um, I was listening and, and he made a very salient point in
- that I would, I would
- foot stomp, um...
- So if I buy a million, a million dollar system
- that requires a million dollar piece
- of infrastructure to be able to fly BVLOS,
- first of all,
- we're domestic, so we have a completely different set of
- issues and constraints and
- guardrails than in, in military theater of operations.
- And a completely different, uh, number of zeros on the budgets. Yeah.
- Yeah.
- So versus, and I can get the same coverage, you know,
- at a
- 150th the cost with the smalls. Mm-hmm.
- Uh, it, it is more manpower, uh, intensive,
- so I need more operators to fly more
- smalls obviously. However,
- I've got people out there anyway- Mm-hmm ... uh, in those locations.
- Um, they're coordinating with
- the guy or the girl be- to the right or to their left.
- There's, there's magic that happens, um, when the team is,
- is, is, um, integrated to that extent, you
- know, and, and you're offering up this new
- capability.
- We use sUAS not necessarily as a detection capability, I know I mentioned that
- earlier, but it's more of a response capability.
- Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
- So we've got a detection,
- uh, we've got a, a sensor alert from, from some- somewhere,
- uh, in, in our, our laydown, and we're responding.
- We're using that as, uh, overwatch.
- We're using our ISR basically as overwatch and for officer safety reasons.
- One thing that we learned, um, very quickly,
- um, obviously the impetus behind, uh, uh, our, our,
- our engagement with the small UAS, uh, pilot program was to, to kind of
- cover that delta that manned aviation was not able to cover, that it can't
- be everywhere. There just aren't enough manned aviation
- assets or pilots and...
- So in, in doing that, we also very quickly discovered, wow,
- they're
- in, in, in, in very specific situations, they're so much more
- effective because of the covertness, the nature of the drone themselves.
- I mean, you hear a helicopter coming from five
- miles away.
- If you're trying to get away from the authorities, you're gonna begin
- your,
- you know, your, your plan to escape a lot sooner.
- Uh, but when you're being surveilled and we get to, uh, initiate, if you will,
- that
- first contact, we, we, you know, sustain that initiative, not only is it
- safer for our, our folks- Mm-hmm ...
- that are potentially walking into a violent, uh, confrontation, but,
- um,
- if it's 20 folks, now you, you pick the time and the
- place of that first, uh, contact, and now you've, you've got that group
- wrapped up versus
- now I've, I've got to chase down six that went east and five that went west and
- six, and it, uh, what would take five hours to, to
- locate 20 people trying to abscond from you really only takes that first
- 10 minutes of initial contact. That's an efficiency that
- translates into real dollars. Mm-hmm. Labor costs.
- Mentioned a little bit ago, you know-
- Integrating to a systems of systems, there's a cost burden associated to
- that right
- now, given the environments that we operate in.
- I mean, a lot of, uh, the capacity type infrastructure
- that we would need to
- facilitate that type of... It's just there, there
- is no commercial entry. Right.
- So,
- um, but also in the law enforcement, uh, a- and so
- we don't wanna, we don't wanna bite I- bite the, the, the AI,
- ML elephant in one, one swallow. Right.
- We need to, we need to measure, uh, and walk that in responsibly and
- conscientiously. B- from, from my perspective, and I...
- and that's what I mean by specificity, from a law enforcement, um, mission set,
- we, we need to do our due diligence to ensure
- that we're not incorporating bias
- into the information that we're collecting,
- which ultimately could be evidentiary.
- And, you know, we don't wanna create complicated case
- law. Mm-hmm.
- So where AI can be used in our operations, I think it's gonna be,
- it's gonna be measured- Yeah ... uh, as in terms of application, but
- absolutely. I mean, it is a shiny object in the room a- and man,
- we, we,
- we salivate over the potentials and possibilities, right?
- The threat, uh, that we're seeing and the capability,
- our adversaries across the
- border or the, the transnational narcotics
- or smuggling organizations, they're very
- well-funded, you know, and have access to a- all...
- everything that is conceivably sold on, on, on the internet.
- So
- very conscious of that, and we see that, um, potentially whatever, you know,
- cognition engines that are running to, to provide better OPSEC or- Right ...
- um, to, to give our folks, um,
- the i- you know, the, the... so that our, our network of systems, right,
- has a sensor array or a capability to establish, "Oh, wait.
- We're starting to be jammed, and it's starting to intens-
- intensify," or this-
- Mm-hmm ... or, or, um, "By the way, you've just, you know, been spoofed,"
- kinda. Having that type of information
- which we can't get right now post
- mishap or post accident, post mis- post incident,
- that's very important because we want to build pattern of life of our adversaries.
- It's in, in... That's the intelligence part- Yeah ...
- that provides us the intelligence of how to operate more effectively and
- efficiently. Mm-hmm. Best laid plans of mice and men, you know?
- As soon as the first round goes down range, it's, it's- Mm-hmm ...
- it's not really relevant. Um,
- and, and that's what, what, what do you wanna train to?
- What do, what do you wanna
- culturalize, um, your folks to? And it should be...
- If you're gonna put them in violent situations, obviously you want it to be
- somewhat simplistic. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
- And then
- it, it... You don't wanna overload. It should be... It's, it's not the...
- I know it's not the, the, the purpose is, is, is, is to take some of that
- off of it. But where to go in the future, we definitely look
- towards greater integration, and so that we can use, uh, some of
- the, the benefits of autonomy- Mm-hmm ...
- to provide better health and welfare for our fleet, um,
- which is, you know, a significant increase to
- or enhancement to airspace
- safety. Yeah, just off- officer safety.
- Um,
- obviously
- we like better c- you know, sensor capabilities, better payloads,
- you know, better
- l- the far- farther reaching camera. Um, we, we see, um...
- But, but battery, but endurance is, is the key. Right. Yeah.
- I had a guy tell me yesterday, as a matter of fact, Dave, we're, we're,
- we're...
- We field nine different platforms as part of our deployment strategy,
- and we're rolling o- one out here this week, first class,
- and I was
- asking one of our seasoned, uh, pilots what he thought about it,
- and he's like, "I
- like it 'cause I can turn the camera backwards.
- 'Cause if my battery's getting ready to die and I need to fly home, I can still
- work the group." So he's squeezing out every half second he can.
- For us, it starts at the ground level.
- I mean, there's constraints, um, about poli...
- Technology is gonna move faster than pol- uh, policies- Right ...
- in the United States, CONUS. So that's one major difference between,
- um, uh, perhaps DoD a- and DHS.
- Um,
- so they're gonna take advantage of the, the, the time,
- the expedit- expedited time window in, in that regard.
- But, um,
- so we have constraints we already know, we, uh, from a po- from a policy
- standpoint, from FAA standpoint.
- So we give that to the field, those constraints, and then
- l- let them tell us what they need, and then we go and, and dialogue.
- We dialogue with industry, and we, we've got a s- we've got an entire,
- um, section of our team, uh, dedicated
- to,
- um, making contact and keeping the pulse on industry.
- Where are they going?
- Uh, military partners, DOJ partners.
- See, but the very first thing that comes to my mind is reliability.
- I mean, if you're, if you're... If we're, we're trying to inculcate this
- capability, right, as, as something that's, that's reliable,
- that's something that
- we plan to, we train to, that we deploy with a high degree
- or level of confidence- Mm-hmm ... you gotta be reliable, you know?
- We've gotta, we've gotta be able to be able to pair
- when it's needed to be paired
- and, and, and
- so on and so forth. The safeguard, you know, the fail-safes have to work,
- those
- kinds of things. Yeah. That, that's, that's...
- Not seeing that, uh, from a, a lot- Mm-hmm ...
- of the, the
- assets that are available in the marketplace.
- Um,
- some folks are doing it a lot better than others.
- Um, but that's,
- that's what we're looking at right now.
- The capability,
- uh, to our, to the policy is kind of w- where it can be.
- We're always looking, you know, to gain an edge there obviously.
- But, um,
- right now we're looking for, you know, a good faith partnership with industry
- that
- provides customer service, reliability, you know, a s- standardized
- product. Mm-hmm.
- Across, maybe they have multiple platforms,
- but the, but the, the, the,
- the GUI and those k- those kinds of things. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
- You know?
- Obviously, uh, Border Patrol is stretched pretty thin,
- um, not just money, but personnel. So the...
- I would say that a little localized, that would be my first take on it.
- But, you know, the, the other part of it, to go along with the acquisition process,
- because we have, we have, uh, assuming, uh, similar roles,
- uh, with the DoD in terms of like
- cybersecurity standards and vetting and,
- and what does that look like, you know? Um, I...
- We've made use of, of the DoD. Uh, thanks for any of the folks that
- are here from
- DIU. The, the SRR and the blue, uh,
- wands and, and, and then, you know, the, the tranche twos and as, as we go on,
- and potentially the greens and
- I would like to see some kind of, you know, some kind of standard,
- some kind of
- capability that the federal government, uh, provides for
- all of the stakeholders- Mm-hmm ...
- um, so that we can get, we can get through that process,
- and then which would open
- al- also potentially the door for, uh,
- you know, different types of systems. Right. Right.
- You know, that, that kind of like expands the marketplace.
- So I, I, I think that's probably gonna happen in
- the future because the demand will
- just start to... Manpower is the issue of the day. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
- Manpower is the issue of the day for most all law enforcement and organizations
- throughout the country.
- Um, if we take a man out of the loop, um, then we are making progress
- theoretically, right? It's, it's,
- it's the common, common thought,
- and I would agree with that to some extent.
- Um,
- so the, the integration, uh, onto a COP or a system of systems and
- remote, uh, remote deployed, um,
- aircraft, those are all gonna be benefits
- and advantages, uh, in the
- future. Mm-hmm. Like I said, I still think we need to walk
- that egg 'cause we don't
- know, um,
- uh,
- what that means fr- from a law enforcement perspective on all
- those downstream,
- uh, second or third order effects that'll come
- into play.
- So, I mean, again, I, I hate to, hate to create bad case law.
- I mean, that's just, that's not, that's not good for the entirety of the
- community,
- um, or it, or, or it complicates further integration of
- AI. You know, we don't wanna like,
- um... Mistake. You wanna, you wanna, um, you wanna,
- y- you know, kind of in- instill, um, specific behavior.
- It's, it's training, it's muscle memory.
- It's, it's a confidence that
- I have r- I have a high degree of reliability in my
- kit, that it's gonna
- perform the way I was trained to use it, and it's, it's gonna be there when I need
- it. That's why, go back to something from a pre-
- your previous talk, I think
- miniaturization actually from, um, not just the tactical standpoint,
- but just I think that's really what we're most interested in. Mm-hmm.
- 'Cause we,
- we could see this, um, being not trained as a specific
- niche capability within our agency.
- Maybe it's trained in basic training in the future, you know, at the
- General Academy, and
- we're talking about
- the behavior becomes one and a part of, uh,
- conducting the mission. But the difficulty's been executive,
- buy-in to some extent,
- you know, and talking about, you know, integrating this new cap- capability and
- that whole regimental sense- Yep ... going back to the previous conversation.
- That's the inve- not just the fiscal investment
- that associates, but, you know, the
- changes to potentially doctrine, but also, um,
- management. You know, management of our forces
- and their deployment and the lay
- down and what that means. So not from the field level. Yep. Nope.
- We've got nine operationalized. We've got probably about a dozen, uh,
- several test
- articles in play currently. But modularity, absolutely.
- Um,
- and, and even if there are trade-offs, the utility of, uh, of that
- modular concept will, would, would pay dividends.
- We don't really... I, We, we give a lot of, uh,
- uh, briefs and, and, uh, to foreign partners that come and, and,
- and
- that, you know, sit down and say, "Hey, how do you organize your, your drone
- operations, your drone program?" And the very first thing we tell them is,
- "Do not
- buy a drone and try and make it do what you want it to do.
- Buy a drone that's made to do what it does and use it
- that way."
- But... And that's just because there's been a
- kind of a lack of modular, but we, we
- definitely would love to be able to see that.
- I don't know that it'll ever be a one-size-fits-all for all of the mission
- sets and
- categories. Mm-hmm. But, but wherever we can find that efficiency,
- absolutely.
- That's,
- you know, that's just good business.
Watch Time
15 Mins 36 Secs