New Thermal Imaging Cameras for U.S. Border Patrol

New Thermal Imaging Cameras for U.S. Border Patrol

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Illustration photo (123rf)
Illustration photo (123rf)

The U.S customs and borders (CBP) has awarded a contract worth more than $67,000 to General Dynamics Global Imaging Technologies, Inc. to supply its Z-500 long-range thermal imaging cameras for the U.S. Border Patrol to use at its Calexico Station in California to spot criminal organizations crossing the border in ultra-light aircraft.

The Calexico Station currently lacks the capability to efficiently monitor the criminal organizations and terrorists engaging in or planning illicit activities along the U.S. border,” says a CBP award notice posted on November 4. “Current Thermal Cameras are insufficient, outdated, and often fail; land units are unable to exploit the use of new camera technology due to there being none. As a result, Calexico Station requests to modernize and reinforce its current capabilities based on the criminal organizations methods being used to evade Border Patrol enforcement.”

According to Government Security News the Z-500 is the only camera thermal imaging system that is compatible with the Remote Video Surveillance System (RVSS), which is also being used at the Calexico Station.

iHLS – Israel Homeland Security

With outstanding long-range target detection and recognition, the Z-500 continuous zoom long-range thermal imager is the camera of choice for force protection and surveillance,” says General Dynamics on its own Web site. “User-defined preset field-of-view options offer the user unprecedented mission flexibility. The camera is easily integrated into any command and control system and provides easy-to-use push button interaction. With its ruggedized design and cooled infrared detector technology, this camera allows for maximum threat detection with lower total cost of ownership.”

The contract for $67,450 was awarded on September 26 to the unit of General Dynamics based in Nashua, NH. “Purchase and subsequent use of this equipment will benefit all of the Calexico Station’s assets as well as intelligence agents, and ultimately the Sector as information is analyzed, linked and pushed out once such traffic is recorded on camera,” explains the CBP notice.