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ASCI 530 – Unmanned Aerospace Systems Research Project

Use of UAS for Domestic Border Security Operations in the United States

Student no. 3

9 November 2019

  • The use of UAS and or UAV for ISR has been in existence since the 19th century.
  • U.S CBP agency is no exception since it has various assets in its arsenal of ISR to protect the U.S borders, with one example being the use of UAS.
  • The one safety concern for the public is the integration of UAS into the domestic airspace (Cho, 2014).

Summary

  • The CBP has an arsenal of ISR assets to use to protect our borders from fixed-wing aircraft like the Beechcraft King Air Series 200 and C-12C, Cessna C-206/210 and C-55 Citation, to rotary-wing aircraft like the Airbus AS350 A-Star, Bell UH-1H Huey II, Sikorsky UH-60, to marine vessels like 39-foot Interim Midnight Express, 33-foot SAFE Boat, a Tethered Aerostat Radar System, and UAS MQ-9B Predator along with small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) to name a few, but what has the public concerned is the unmanned aerial systems of the MQ-9B Predator and sUAS (Air and Marine Operations Assets, 2019).
  • Since most of these assets are manned aircraft or vessels which are piloted from within, with the exception of the Tethered Aerostat which is stationary balloon, the MQ-9B Predator and sUAS are systems that are pilotless in the sense that the pilot is flying it form the ground far away from it. This leads to concerns of the safety aspects of flying this UAS along with other aircraft in the NAS.

Issue/Prob Statement

  • The CBP currently has a fleet of nine MQ-9 Predator B’s that are on regular surveillance missions looking for illegal activity crossing the Southern border (Bier & Feeney, 2018)
  • The MQ-9B Predator, manufactured by General Atomics Aeronautical systems, is used for its vast operational capabilities, unique payload, mission flexibility, and that it can be fitted with new applications along with an excellent safety and performance record with other agencies (Unmanned Aircraft System, 2019).

Significance of Issue

  • The CBP have recently completed testing the use of sUAS and are currently implementing them for operational use in the field to complement their current inventory of manned and large UAS aircraft.
  • The UTM still in its infancy of being tested and developed it brings up another safety issue with smaller unmanned aerial systems or vehicles being operated in the same airspace as low flying aircraft.

Significance of Issue

  • The United States, according to a CRS Report for Congress, has approximately 19,937.4 miles of International boundaries that the CBP covers on a day to day basis (Beaver, 2006).
  • The extended range and endurance of these UASs may reduce the burdens on human resources at the borders.
  • Like all other borders, the United States requires 24-hour surveillance of its borders on land and on our coastline.

Research and Development

  • The use of sUAS in the field in place of the large UAS MQ-9B Predator has given some additional advantages to the way CBP operates in areas that are remotely inaccessible to ground personnel to give them more situational awareness with the use of enhanced surveillance technologies (Scharnweber & Kaplan, 2018)
  • The MQ-9 Predator has an endurance time of approximately 27 hours while the average endurance time of a sUAS is 20 to 45 minutes for low cost close range UAVs, one to six hours for close range UAVs up to 50 km, and eight to twelve hours for short range UAV of 150 km or longer (Classification of the Unmanned Aerial Systems, n.d.)
  • Using UAVs instead of manned aircraft for border patrol can be a cost versus benefits issue as well. According to the Congressional Research Service “UAVs are less expensive to procure than manned aircraft but may cost more to operate. Thus, the life cycle cost of UAVs could actually be greater than the life cycle cost of manned aircraft” (Haddal & Gertler, 2010)

Research and Development

  • Airborne Collision Avoidance System (ACAS X)

Benefits of using ACAS X is as follows:

  • Reduce redundant advisories: The old system of Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) II was a decent system, but gave out alerts even if the aircraft was well at a safe distance.
  • Easily adaptable to new models: Either Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) and or Next Generation Transportation System (NextGen) are looking into this new concept since it will reduce the aircraft spacing safely.
  • Adding different classes of aircraft: TCAS II was limited.
  • Adding new surveillance settings: SESAR and NextGen accept new sources of surveillance from satellite-based navigation and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B). TCAS II was limited.
  • Improve safety: ACAS X will improve safety along with reducing false alerts.
  • Insignificant changes: Nothing will change for the hardware being used in the system. I. E antennas, processors and displays. No change in procedures for use of ACAS X (ACAS X, n.d.).

Technological Advancements

  • Airborne Collision Avoidance System

ACAS X

  • ACAS Xu

For large UAS

  • ACAS sXu

For small UAS

  • Will eventually replace the aging Traffic-Alert and Collision Avoidance Warning System.

Technological Advancements

  • Use of an Unmanned Transportation Management System.
  • The first prototype would consist of a portable UTM system, when the need for a management system changes between locations and or support operations in regards to a natural catastrophe or farming.
  • The second prototype would be a Persistent UTM system in that it could support all low-altitude operations and deliver uninterrupted support to a geographical area of responsibility.

Technological Advancements

  • “Lost link”, where the command and control (C2) between the ground control station and the unmanned aircraft is interrupted.
  • Mitre is developing an onboard Intelligent Analyzer to integrate software in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to monitor flight status.
  • The system will detect the loss of C2, then the local air traffic controller and other nearby aircraft will receive a synthesized voice broadcasted over existing radio communications emergency voice frequencies to alert other air traffic control towers and other pilots of the doomed UAS (Cleave, 2011).

Technological Advancements

  • The CBP agency is looking into autonomous UAVs to augment ground personnel that can assist in situational awareness in the areas between the ports of entry to the United States.

these are sUASs with wingspans under ten feet and weighing approximately only 15 pounds. These sUAS can be easily transported in the back of an SUV while the smallest of smallest sUAS can be less than a pound and be transported in a ground person’s backpack (Rockwell, 2017)

Alternative Actions

  • Integrating sUAS with ACAS installed could be a game changer for U.S CBP in assisting its agents on the ground anytime, anywhere along the border.

Using sUAS will bridge the gap in between the ports of entry and expand the inventory of manned aircraft and large UAS currently in use by the CBP

  • Educate the public on the safety aspects of UAS and sUAS in regards to the new technology like the Xu and sXu series of the Airborne Collision Avoidance System (ACAS X).

Show the benefits of integrating the new ACAS X by reducing redundant advisories, its adaptability to new models, showing the different classes of aircraft it’s compatible with, new surveillance settings which include the new SESAR and NextGen transportation systems, improved safety, and no insignificant changes to procedures for use of ACAS X (ACAS X, n.d.).

  • Inform the public about the new onboard Intelligent Analyzer to software integration designed by Mitre to alert other air traffic control towers and other pilots in the event of a “Lost link” between the ground control station and unmanned aircraft.
  • The integration of sUAS into a UTM enabling aircraft to fly safely in low-altitude airspace by executing services like airspace design, corridors, dynamic geofencing, and severe weather warnings, even wind warnings, overcrowded airspace management, terrain avoidance, route planning and or re-routing, aircraft separation, sequencing and spacing with emergency management (Boyle, 2019).

Recommendation

  • 2018). Retrieved from https://www.itscalifornia.org/Content/AnnualMeetings/2018/Presentations/S1P1.pdf
  • (2019, Aug 12). Retrieved from AUVSI News: https://www.auvsi.org/industry-news/2nd-annual-ny-uas-symposium-highlight-issues-facing-industry-importance-utm
  • ACAS X. (n.d.). Retrieved from Skybrary: https://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/ACAS_X
  • Air and Marine Operations Assets. (2019, April 2). Retrieved from U.S Customs and Border Protection: https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/air-sea/aircraft-and-marine-vessels
  • Beaver, J. C. (2006, November 9). U.S. International Borders: Brief Facts. CRS Report for Congress. Retrieved September 15, 2019, from https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RS21729.pdf
  • Boyd, A. (2019, August 19). CBP to Test Autonomous Drones for Use at the Border. Retrieved from Nextgov: https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2019/08/cbp-test-autonomous-drones-use-border/159542/
  • Boyd, A. (2019, September 3). US Testing Autonomous Border-Patrol Drones. Retrieved from Defense One: https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2019/09/cbp-test-autonomous-drones-use-border/159604/
  • Boyle, A. (2019, November 1). UTM. Retrieved from National Aeronautics and Space Administration: https://utm.arc.nasa.gov/index.shtml
  • Can drones better secure the border than a wall? (2019, January 10). Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1u8nPwjQMg
  • Cho, Y. (2014). Lost in Debate: The Safety of Domestic. Journal of Strategic Security, 7(4), 38-56. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/1944-0472.7.4.4
  • Classification of the Unmanned Aerial Systems. (n.d.). Retrieved from PennState College of Earth and Mineral Sciences: https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog892/node/5

References

  • Cleave, D. A. (2011, January). Keeping Track of Unmanned Aircraft by Overcoming "Lost Links". Retrieved from Mitre: https://www.mitre.org/publications/project-stories/keeping-track-of-unmanned-aircraft-by-overcoming-lost-links
  • Gunderson, D. (2015, Februray 19). Drone patrol: Unmanned craft find key role in U.S. border security. Retrieved from MPRnews: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/02/19/predator-drone
  • Haddal, C., & Gertler, J. (2010, July 8). Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Border Surveillance Congressional Research Service. Retrieved from Homeland Security: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/RS21698.pdf
  • MQ-9 Reaper/Predator B data sheet. (2015). Retrieved from General Atomics Aeronautical : http://www.ga-asi.com/predator-b
  • Rockwell, M. (2017, September 18). CBP tests small drones for border surveillance. Retrieved from GCN: https://gcn.com/articles/2017/09/18/drones-border-tests.aspx
  • Scharnweber, A., & Kaplan, P. (2018, April 6). Aircraft Systems. Retrieved from dhs.gov: https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/privacy-pia-cbp018a-aircraftsystems-april2018.pdf
  • Smarter control for border patrol. (2017 , July 7). Retrieved from Science Daily: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170707070534.htm
  • UAS Airborne Collision Avoidance System Successfully Tested. (2018, November 30). Retrieved from Unmanned Systems Technology: https://www.unmannedsystemstechnology.com/2018/11/uas-airborne-collision-avoidance-system-successfully-tested/
  • Unmanned Aircraft System. (2019, February). Retrieved from U.S Customs and Border Protection: https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2019-Feb/air-marine-fact-sheet-uas-predator-b-2015.pdf

References