CSRA has been awarded a single-award contract valued at $45 million over a three-year period, to advise U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) about effective equipment options and efficient deployment methods needed to detect and prevent unlawful travel and trade.
Under the contract, CSRA will support CBP’s systems engineering, logistics and sustainment, capabilities and requirements divisions in determining the most optimal towers, camera sensors and radar systems to help detect and classify threats to the security of the nation’s borders.
Over the years, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has tried a series of strategies, to monitor the huge swaths of rugged terrain along the southwest border, which required permanent sensors that could provide a clear picture to agents what was happening in the field, to avoid false alarms.
The Integrated Fixed Towers (IFT) system, initiated by the CBP in 2012 for border surveillance, utilizing an acquisition strategy that leveraged a non-developmental, off-the-shelf approach, incorporates a network of towers between 80′ and 120′ high, outfitted with mounted radar and camera sensors radar plus day and night cameras.
The cameras and sensor technologies integrate through an intuitive, easy-to-use common operating picture, which provides Border Patrol Agents detailed, long-range, persistent surveillance, to detect, track, identify, and classify items of interest along the border.
Information from IFT towers, is when transmitted via microwave communications to work stations at the various Border Patrol Stations, where CBP Agents analyze the data and coordinate a response with agents in the field, to resolve situations as they arise along the border.
By providing a more accurate understanding of a given situation, agents can determine an appropriate course of action more quickly and with more confidence, as they accurately monitor areas previously unobserved.
In 2014, Elbit Systems of America, the Fort Worth, Texas–based subsidiary of Israel’s Elbit Systems, was awarded a $145 million contract to provide IFT border surveillance.
(Learn More, courtesy of Cronkite News and YouTube)
In February of 2106, the acting Chief of the Border Patrol certified that the IFT border surveillance system meets operational requirements, enhances surveillance capability, increases situational awareness and supports officer safety.
“Proper border control and management is critical in protecting our nation against dangerous people and materials that could potentially harm our citizens,” said Sally Sullivan, CSRA executive vice president, Homeland Security Group.
“Our collaborative team of systems engineers and logisticians are helping to drive CBP’s mission by identifying and deploying intuitive, leading-edge technology to secure and protect our borders.”
Every day CSRA makes a difference in how the government serves our country and our citizens.
We deliver a broad range of innovative, cloud-enabled, next-generation IT solutions and professional services to help our customers modernize their legacy systems, protect their applications, infrastructure, and assets and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of mission-critical functions for our warfighters and our citizens.
Our 18,000 employees understand that success is a matter of perseverance, courage, adaptability and experience. CSRA is headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia.
- For More information on Elbit Systems of American Integrated Fixed Towers (IFT) system, visit https://americansecuritytoday.com/elbit-systems-america-ast-homeland-security-award-program/
- For More news on CSRA, visit https://americansecuritytoday.com/csra-wins-award-doj-offices-systems-learn/ and https://americansecuritytoday.com/csra-awarded-88m-logistics-contract-us-air-force/
