Fri, Jul 20, 2012
Homeland Security Subcommittee Holds Hearing On UAV Use In NAS
Nearly 60 Private And Government Entities Authorized To Operate Drones
The Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Management, chaired by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), held a hearing Thursday entitled “Using Unmanned Aerial Systems Within the Homeland: Security Game Changer?” on Capitol Hill.
Chairman McCaul said in a statement that the hearing was called to examine the benefits and challenges to increased domestic use of UASs.
“Unmanned aerial systems, commonly referred to as ‘drones’, have been a force multiplier in our military operations abroad and along our borders," he said in the news release. "These systems are now being used in the United States by law enforcement, government agencies and even academic institutions. Some Americans worry such systems will become invasive ‘eyes-in-the-sky’. Others say domestic drones will eventually be armed. However, no Federal agency is taking responsibility for creating comprehensive policies and regulations concerning the use of these systems domestically. Additionally, vulnerabilities to ‘drone’ hackers exist, as recently demonstrated by researchers at the University of Texas, raising concerns these vehicles could be commandeered by terrorists or others with ill intent. Our hearing will examine DHS’s role in the domestic use of unmanned aerial systems and determine the extent to which the Department is prepared to ensure oversight of domestic drones."
He cited several examples:
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Congress questions domestic use of drones
Posted at 4:26 PM on July 19, 2012
by Dan Gunderson
Filed under: Government, Northwest Minnesota, Research, Technology
Filed under: Government, Northwest Minnesota, Research, Technology
file photo courtesy University of North Dakota
Updated with comments from Congressional testimony:
Members of Congress are asking questions this week about domestic use of unmanned aircraft systems. Commonly known as drones, UAS are currently prohibited in the national airspace except in cases where the Federal Aviation Administration gives waivers for use by law enforcement, government agencies or research universities.
The U.S. House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Management held a hearing Thursday to ask what role the Department of Homeland Security will play in oversight and if the agency is prepared for expanded use of unmanned aircraft.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection uses unmanned aircraft to patrol the northern and southern borders.
A growing number of law enforcement agencies are using small unmanned aircraft. In our region the only law enforcement UAS program I'm aware of is the Grand Forks County Sheriff's department.
Congress has ordered the FAA to integrate unmanned aircraft into the national airspace by 2015. The agency is expected to announce regulations for integration by the end of this year.
The chairman of the homeland security subcommittee, U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, notes that unmanned aerial systems are a boost to military and border control operations, but their growing use concerns many citizens.
"These systems are now being used in the United States by law enforcement, government agencies and even academic institutions," McCaul said in a statement. "Some Americans worry such systems will become invasive 'eyes-in-the-sky'. Others say domestic drones will eventually be armed. However, no Federal agency is taking responsibility for creating comprehensive policies and regulations concerning the use of these systems domestically.
"Additionally, vulnerabilities to 'drone' hackers exist, as recently demonstrated by researchers at the University of Texas, raising concerns these vehicles could be commandeered by terrorists or others with ill intent. Our hearing will examine DHS's role in the domestic use of unmanned aerial systems and determine the extent to which the Department is prepared to ensure oversight of domestic drones."
Here's a link to the hearing webcast.
How unmanned aircraft are integrated into national airspace could have a big economic effect in Minnesota and North Dakota.
The University of North Dakota in Grand Forks and Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls are leaders in training unmanned aircraft crews. The region is angling for one of six UAS test sites to be chosen by the FAA. Those test sites will likely attract aerospace businesses and investment.
The Air Force is also developing an unmanned aircraft mission at the Grand Forks Air Force Base. The FAA recently approved restricted airspace in North Dakota specifically for UAS training missions.
Subcommittee Chairman, U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas said the Department of Homeland Security declined to appear before his subcommittee.
Michael Toscano, President and CEO of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International did not appear before the subcommittee but submitted testimony pointing out the value of unmanned aircraft:
"U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) currently uses UAS to monitor the border to help interdict illicit trafficking. According to the CPB's Office of Air and Marine, unmanned aircraft in 2011 assisted with the seizure of thousands of pounds of narcotics and the apprehension of dozens of individuals taking part in illegal activities," Toscano wrote.
"UAS aided the response to the severe flooding of the Red River in the upper Midwest in April 2011. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protections Office, which leant (sp) the UAS to the effort, the UAS mapped more than 800 nautical miles along the flooded tributaries and basins in Minnesota and North Dakota, and provided streaming video and analysis of the areas affected by the flood such as levee integrity and ice damming. The information provided by UAS gave forecasters more accurate predictions of when and where the flooding would be at its worst."
Then there was this testimony from Amie Stepanovich, Association Litigation Counsel Electronic Privacy Information Center, who pointed out the Department of Homeland Security has no privacy policy regarding the use of UAS even though she testified;
"Drones may also carry infrared cameras, heat sensors, GPS, sensors that detect movement, and automated license plate readers. Drones are currently being developed that will carry facial recognition technology, able to remotely identify individuals in parks, schools, and at political gatherings."
Expensive drones generate lots of buzz, few results
Friday, June 15, 2012
A Predator drone unmanned aerial vehicle takes off on a U.S.
Customs Border Patrol mission from Fort Huachuca, Ariz., Thursday, Oct.
25, 2007. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
TUSCON, Ariz. --
An aerial drone, zooming somewhere out of sight high above the cooling
scrubland, first spotted the group of nearly two dozen migrants.
Snaking through the Sonoran Desert on a warm, moonless night last month, the would-be immigrants traversed the rugged foothills southwest of Tucson, a few miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
It had been a relatively quiet shift in that area for U.S. Border Patrol agents, who paused to chat in their passing green-and-white SUVs as dusk crept closer. But just after 10 p.m. agents perked up, their radios crackling with activity.
A fixed-wing Cessna took over from the Predator B unmanned plane and from overhead the pilot helped direct agents toward the migrants, who wove around ocotillo and brush. A helicopter swooped in, its spotlight beaming over the hillside and rotors slicing the desert solitude as agents dropped down a ridge to chase the scattering group.
All told, a dozen men and women in olive uniforms converged. They rounded up eight of the migrants, walked them toward their gathered trucks and lined them up in a shallow drainage ditch along a washboard dirt road. A few of the migrants asked about the "camera in the sky" that had caught them.
A pilotless aircraft may have awed the failed migrants, but such success stories about U.S. Customs and Border Protection's quarter-billion dollar drone program come in short supply, according to a Homeland Security Department inspector general's report released Monday.
Grounded by wind and bad weather, costly maintenance and poor planning, the underachieving aircraft have flown only a fraction of the agency's desired flight time from four bases in Arizona, Texas, Florida and North Dakota, the inspector general found.
In Arizona, where the agency keeps four drones, agents seemed pleasantly surprised that an unmanned craft had aided their efforts, though they had apprehended fewer than half of the detected migrants.
In its audit, however, the inspector general recommended that the agency stop buying the drones, manufactured by Poway-based General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, until officials can properly plan how to get the most out of the unmanned planes and budget for the program, which includes having enough equipment to perform their mission.
"CBP has not adequately planned to fund unmanned aircraft-related equipment," such as ground control stations, ground support equipment, cameras and navigation systems, the inspector general report says. "As a result of CBP's insufficient funding approach, future UAS [unmanned aerial systems] missions may have to be curtailed."
Customs and Border Protection officials said they concurred with the inspector general's recommendations and were committed to continuing to improve the drone program. In its written response to the inspector general's report, the agency said it had no plans to add more drones beyond the 10 already in operation or on order "unless directed by a higher authority."
The agency's previously stated goal was to expand to 24 drones, which cost about $18.5 million for the Predator B and $20.5 million for the maritime version, known as the Guardian, to operate. Those costs include maintenance, surveillance technology and ground equipment.
In the past year the agency has added two unmanned aircraft to its underutilized fleet and expects to receive its 10th system by September. The agency can still purchase up to 24 drones, but authorization is based on the availability of funding.
Officials this year also hope to secure permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to extend drone coverage just east of the San Diego metropolitan area, the last major section of the Southwest border to be patrolled by the aircraft.
Drones now patrol about 1,200 miles along the Southwest border from the Gulf of Mexico to just east of El Centro in southeastern California and can stay aloft for 20 hours.
Championed by Congress, derided by critics
The report echoes what critics including some Border Patrol agents have long said about the expensive, remotely controlled Predator B fleet.
They point to what they view as the program's meager returns since it began in 2006, as the drones have assisted in the seizure of nearly 50,000 pounds of drugs and the detention of about 7,500 people.
By comparison, decades-old P-3 Orion propeller planes, which once hunted submarines for the Navy, in the past five years have aided in the seizure or disruption of 863,000 pounds of drugs including 148,000 pounds of cocaine last year alone. Agency officials have described the plane as an "unsung hero."
"It is my sense that Congress has consistently overlooked (dare I say, 'ignored') not only the operational effectiveness, but also the cost effectiveness of the Predator [unmanned aerial vehicle] as a border surveillance tool," David Olive, a Washington-based homeland security consultant, wrote last year for the Security Debrief blog.
Customs and Border Protection officials have defended the drones, saying they are also used to assist in disaster and emergency relief, such as flooding, and other reconnaissance. The Office of Air and Marine also has flown missions for other agencies, including the FBI, FEMA, the Defense Department, Texas Rangers and the U.S. Forest Service.
Critics like Olive have said that the drones haven't met expectations in other situations, such as the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010, when the on-scene commander waved off the drones after a couple of weeks because they weren't helpful.
The inspector general also found that the agency does not have agreements to get reimbursed for missions flown for other agencies nor does it have a formal process to handle requests from outside agencies or ways to prioritize such missions.
In 2011, the agency's Office of Air and Marine flew its drones more than ever roughly 4,500 hours and 75 percent above any other fiscal year.
But that flight time amounts to a quarter of the agency's goal. The systems cost about $3,200 per hour to fly, for a total of about $14.5 million last year alone.
The result: Unmanned aircraft last year helped to find about 7,600 pounds of marijuana and apprehend 75 people suspected of engaging in illicit activities, according to the agency.
Overall, the U.S. Border Patrol, which is also part of Customs and Border Protection, in 2011 seized more than 2.5 million pounds of marijuana and apprehended 340,252 people, agency records show.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, who has championed drones as the Democratic co-chairman of the Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus, said that Customs and Border Protection has to go back to the basics and come up with a sound strategic plan for its drones.
"The first thing any agency should have is a strategic plan. I assumed they had a plan," said Cuellar. "We have to know where we are going before we start buying any more of the assets."
Yet, the program and drones in general continue to receive wide-ranging support from lawmakers. The unmanned systems caucus, which promotes "the overwhelming value" of drones and "the urgent need to rapidly develop and deploy" more of them, has nearly 60 members, including 11 California representatives and the Republican chair of the House Intelligence Committee.
The House Homeland Security Appropriations subcommittee recently pushed for an increase above the Homeland Security Department's request for $18.6 million to buy, deploy and operate sensors and other equipment used on its existing drones.
The Senate Armed Services Committee, meanwhile, has called for the broader use of unmanned aircraft in the country's national airspace as large numbers of drones used in Afghanistan and other operations may return to the United States as those battles wind down.
"Without the ability to operate freely and routinely in the [National Airspace System], UAS (unmanned aerial system) development and training and ultimately operational capabilities will be severely impacted," according to a recent committee report.
Technologically advanced weather permitting
Touted for their technological advances and airborne omniscience, the drones require on average an hour of maintenance for every hour in the air, the report states.
Between 2006 and 2011, the agency spent $55.3 million to operate and maintain the drones. Congress has only appropriated $12.6 million for such costs, which include training, satellite links, facility rental and contractor support, since the agency's drone program began, according to the report.
Customs and Border Protection figures show that Congress has appropriated $240.6 million to establish, operate and maintain the unmanned aircraft program, which consists of 10 systems, and spent about $224 million.
Yet, winds often keep the drones on the ground, as it happened in late May when a reporter visited the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, where two such aircraft are based. Cuellar said in his two visits to the base pilots could not launch or retrieve crafts because of weather conditions. The Predator B design allows it to take off and land in winds up to 30 miles per hour.
Cuellar said he plans to address the issue next week during a House Homeland Security Subcommittee meeting. He said he has pushed the agency to station the drones at other places that provide more consistent flight conditions. But officials have been "stubborn" about keeping the drones on military bases for security reasons.
"That's almost insulting to say there's no other place along the Texas border that can provide security for [unmanned aircraft]," he said.
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) currently uses UAS to monitor the border to help interdict illicit trafficking. According to the CPB's Office of Air and Marine, unmanned aircraft in 2011 assisted with the seizure of thousands of pounds of narcotics and the apprehension of dozens of individuals taking part in illegal activities.
- UAS aided the response to the severe flooding of the Red River in the upper Midwest in April 2011. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protections Office, which lent the UAS to the effort, the UAS mapped more than 800 nautical miles along the flooded tributaries and basins in Minnesota and North Dakota, and provided streaming video and analysis of the areas affected by the flood such as levee integrity and ice damming. The information provided by UAS gave forecasters more accurate predictions of when and where the flooding would be at its worst.
- In 2008, NASA assisted the state of California in fighting wildfires with the use of Ikhana, a UAS equipped with advanced technology. The information about the fires collected by Ikhana was transmitted to command centers within minutes, and then distributed into the field giving firefighters crucial situational awareness.
- UAS were used to help search and rescue teams in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Scientists from the University of South Florida worked with Florida rescuers in Mississippi, in what was the first known use of small UAS for an actual disaster. Brought in to survey Pearlington, MS, within two hours, the responders had the data from the UAS showing that no survivors were trapped and that the flood waters from the cresting Pearl River were not posing an additional threat.
"Safety is also one of three main pillars of the industry’s new Code of Conduct published earlier this month. We understand and take very seriously the need to conduct UAS operations in safe manner that mitigates risk and instills confidence in our systems. Specifically with regard to safety, the guidelines recommend when and by whom UAS should be flown, address training and crew fitness requirements, call for a thorough risk assessment before each UAS flight and codify our commitment to respecting other users of the airspace, the privacy of individuals and the concerns of the public."
Sepanovich said that some of the primary concerns are the use of UAVs by the Department of Homeland Security with the ability to "link facial recognition capabilities ... to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Next Generation Identification database or DHS’ IDENT database, two of the largest collections of biometric data in the world, exacerbates the privacy risks. Drones could be deployed to monitor individuals in a way that was not possible previously."
She also cited a Customs and Border Protection IG's report that pointed out problems with the planning associated with UAS programs and training. She noted that the report said new UAV purchases should be suspended until CBP develops a plan that addresses “necessary operations, maintenance,and equipment.”
Regarding privacy concerns, the DHS Inspector General said that a standardized process was needed to request CBP drones for non--CBP purposes, in order to “provide transparency.”
The committee also heard from Mr. Todd E. Humphreys, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at the Cockrell School of Engineering in Texas, along with representatives from the GAO and the Montgomery County, TX, Sheriff's office
FMI: http://homeland.house.gov
Fronteras Desk
Drone agents during a recent live mission at the operations center in Corpus Christi, Texas.The Department of Homeland Security has taken to the high skies for its latest high-tech border security program.
The Fronteras Desk reports that it has retooled the unmanned aerial vehicle, commonly known as a drone, an established military weapon. The drone has been turned into a new civilian, eyes-in-the-sky border protection instrument.
The program is operated by the Office of Air and Marine, a division of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency within the Homeland Security Department responsible for securing the nation's borders.
Michael Kostelnik, a former Air Force Major General, is in charge of Air and Marine.
"Today we form the world's largest law enforcement air force," he said.
Kostelnik’s fleet has grown to 270 aircraft, including 10 drones with bases at the U.S-Mexico border in Arizona and here in Corpus Christi, on the Texas Gulf Coast about 150 miles southeast of San Antonio.
There's another operations center in South Florida and the northern border base is in North Dakota.
The border drones are Predator B models. They've been modified from the standard military-issue types, which are armed with weapons and are being currently used in the war in Afghanistan and in certain strikes in Pakistan.
Instead of missiles, the civilian-styled border drones, which cost $18 million apiece, carry powerful radars. They look like high-tech gliders without cockpits.
In an interview, Kostelnik didn't stop raving about the ability the drones have to scan large swaths of land from 20,000 feet up in the air while still being able to zoom in so close that footprints can be seen on the ground.
The drones are credited with leading to the arrests of more than 62,000 illegal immigrants, nearly 2,000 smugglers and more than 800,000 pounds of drugs, all in 2010, the latest available count.
The Corpus Christi operations center is on the second floor of an airplane hangar inside the Naval Air Station. Two to three agents at a time rotate shifts, their eyes constantly staring at various flat-screen monitors on the wall -- indicating the drone's flight path, the live images relayed from up above and Google Earth maps to corroborate "hot spots," or known locations along the 350-mile Texas coastline and 1,250-mile Texas-Mexico border known for illegal activity.
"Alright guys, we're done with the test, let's go on the mission profile," one of the agents spoke into the radio to the drone pilot and co-pilot. The pilots are actually based outside in a trailer because this naval base site was not originally set up to have a full-fledged drone operations center.
The pilot and co-pilot, technically called the sensor operator, work out of flight stations inside the trailer. They sit in pilot chairs and have their own screens to monitor -- seeing the same relayed drone images as their counterparts in the operations center next door. The pilot operates the drone through a joystick.
Homeland Security requested that the agents remain unidentified, for their safety.
"Alright, if you want to step out and scan down to the river for a while, our next target is 20 miles away," the dispatch agent instructed the pilot after the drone flew along the Texas coast and made a sharp western turn to scan the Rio Grande.
Suddenly, the pilot spotted something suspicious. Several people on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande jumped in the water.
"There’s something over there, I just saw something move across the road there," the pilot said.
It makes Border Patrol administrator Hector Black perk up. Adapting to the increased use of drones as part of its work, the Border Patrol recently assigned a full-time staffer to the operations center to act as a liaison between the center, the flight station and the agents on the ground.
"This is an invaluable tool," said Black, an 18-year veteran of the agency who was previously assigned to Puerto Rico. "It allows us to see from a different angle. It’s a lot better to see stuff from above than on the ground, you can see it a lot easier. This is great for the guys down there."
The pilot seeing unusual activity was case in point.
While on the ground it would have been harder and would have taken more time to decipher what was going on, the drone images revealed fairly quickly that the potential drug smugglers or illegal immigrants were actually Mexican fishermen cooling off in the Rio Grande.
And the intelligence sharing works both ways. Black gets a call from his colleagues out of the McAllen Border Patrol station, saying they were tipped to a potential smuggling attempt further down river. Immediately, Black relayed the information to drone agents sitting next to him, who in turn coordinated with the pilot to check out the site.
Most of the time the work can get mundane if there's not a lot going on. But Tom Mason likes the fact that at any moment, the monotony could be broken with a big case.
"This is a really fun job," said Mason, who used to fly for the Navy. "Some of the missions, some of the things you get to do, some of the chases, some of the things you get to see. You get to take down either a boat or an airplane with a bunch of stuff in it."
Yet despite its tremendous growth, the drone program may be going into a holding pattern. A Homeland Security Inspector General report in May cited it for poor planning and oversight. Drones could be flying more than 10,000 hours a year, the report says, but so far they’ve been put to use for only 4,000.
The agency said bad weather often plays a role, not allowing the drones to take off or forcing them to land sooner than expected. But the report said overall the program has been successful and will keep improving through growing pains.
You can check out the second part of Fronteras' series on drones as they take to the water with Homeland Security.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- The Department of Homeland Security has taken to the high skies for its latest high-tech border security program.
It has retooled the unmanned aerial vehicle, commonly known as a drone, an established military weapon. The drone has been turned into a new civilian, eyes-in-the-sky border protection instrument.
The program is operated by the Office of Air and Marine, a division of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency within the Homeland Security Department responsible for securing the nation's borders.
Michael Kostelnik, a former Air Force Major General, is in charge of Air and Marine.
"Today we form the world's largest law enforcement air force," he said.
Kostelnik’s fleet has grown to 270 aircraft, including 10 drones with bases at the U.S-Mexico border in Arizona and here in Corpus Christi, on the Texas Gulf Coast about 150 miles southeast of San Antonio.
There's another operations center in South Florida and the northern border base is in North Dakota.
The border drones are Predator B models. They've been modified from the standard military-issue types, which are armed with weapons and are being currently used in the war in Afghanistan and in certain strikes in Pakistan.
Instead of missiles, the civilian-styled border drones, which cost $18 million apiece, carry powerful radars. They look like high-tech gliders without cockpits.
In an interview, Kostelnik didn't stop raving about the ability the drones have to scan large swaths of land from 20,000 feet up in the air while still being able to zoom in so close that footprints can be seen on the ground.
The Corpus Christi operations center is on the second floor of an airplane hangar inside the Naval Air Station. Two to three agents at a time rotate shifts, their eyes constantly staring at various flat-screen monitors on the wall -- indicating the drone's flight path, the live images relayed from up above and Google Earth maps to corroborate "hot spots," or known locations along the 350-mile Texas coastline and 1,250-mile Texas-Mexico border known for illegal activity.
"Alright guys, we're done with the test, let's go on the mission profile," one of the agents spoke into the radio to the drone pilot and co-pilot. The pilots are actually based outside in a trailer because this naval base site was not originally set up to have a full-fledged drone operations center.
The pilot and co-pilot, technically called the sensor operator, work out of flight stations inside the trailer. They sit in pilot chairs and have their own screens to monitor -- seeing the same relayed drone images as their counterparts in the operations center next door. The pilot operates the drone through a joystick.
Homeland Security requested that the agents remain unidentified, for their safety.
"Alright, if you want to step out and scan down to the river for a while, our next target is 20 miles away," the dispatch agent instructed the pilot after the drone flew along the Texas coast and made a sharp western turn to scan the Rio Grande.
Suddenly, the pilot spotted something suspicious. Several people on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande jumped in the water.
"There’s something over there, I just saw something move across the road there," the pilot said.
It makes Border Patrol administrator Hector Black perk up. Adapting to the increased use of drones as part of its work, the Border Patrol recently assigned a full-time staffer to the operations center to act as a liaison between the center, the flight station and the agents on the ground.
The pilot seeing unusual activity was case in point.
While on the ground it would have been harder and would have taken more time to decipher what was going on, the drone images revealed fairly quickly that the potential drug smugglers or illegal immigrants were actually Mexican fishermen cooling off in the Rio Grande.
And the intelligence sharing works both ways. Black gets a call from his colleagues out of the McAllen Border Patrol station, saying they were tipped to a potential smuggling attempt further down river. Immediately, Black relayed the information to drone agents sitting next to him, who in turn coordinated with the pilot to check out the site.
Most of the time the work can get mundane if there's not a lot going on. But Tom Mason likes the fact that at any moment, the monotony could be broken with a big case.
"This is a really fun job," said Mason, who used to fly for the Navy. "Some of the missions, some of the things you get to do, some of the chases, some of the things you get to see. You get to take down either a boat or an airplane with a bunch of stuff in it."
Yet despite its tremendous growth, the drone program may be going into a holding pattern. A Homeland Security Inspector General report in May cited it for poor planning and oversight. Drones could be flying more than 10,000 hours a year, the report says, but so far they’ve been put to use for only 4,000.
The agency said bad weather often plays a role, not allowing the drones to take off or forcing them to land sooner than expected. But the report said overall the program has been successful and will keep improving through growing pains.
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