U.S. Homeland Security to Operate Air Force Border Blimps

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will take over control of the fleet of aerostat radar systems along the U.S.-Mexico border. Until now this has been under the jurisdiction of U.S. Air Force.

Lawmakers earlier this year had written a letter to Obama administration officials asking that the DHS receive funding to take over the Tethered Aerostat Radar Systems program – or, if that was not possible, to let the Pentagon sustain the blimps until a long-term decision was made.

According to Nex Gov the funding deal brokered this week states that Homeland Security appropriations must be allocated to “sustain border security operations, including sustaining the operation of Tethered Aerostat Radar Systems.”

iHLS – Israel Homeland Security

The balloon program, currently supported by federal contractor Exelis, cost the government $213.5 million between 2007 and 2012, according to the Government Accountability Office.

The aerostats watch out for illegal jet incursions to help thwart narcotics smuggling and human trafficking, among other criminal border activities.

“These systems help to secure our border by detecting ultralights and other low-flying aircraft illegally entering our country carrying drugs,” Rep. Ron Barber, D-Ariz., said in a statement in March, when the Air Force announced a program extension. “I am glad that the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security have agreed with me that this system of radar blimps stationed along our nation’s southern border is an essential component of our national security.”