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The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has taken delivery of its first Predator B UAV configured with a maritime surveillance radar.
The unarmed aircraft, dubbed ‘Guardian’, will be employed by CBP on reconnaissance, surveillance, and targeting acquisition missions in the Great Lakes region on the US-Canada border alongside Predator Bs already configured for the land surveillance mission.
“The Predator B UAS has proven its value to homeland security over the nation’s land borders, the Great Lakes region, and in support of DHS (Dept Homeland Security) hurricane and flood response operations,” said Michael Kostelnik, Assistant Commissioner for the US Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine. “With the introduction of the Guardian, maritime variant of the Predator B, DHS now has a powerful tool and force multiplier to increase maritime domain awareness and confront threats to our borders.”
The Guardian features a Raytheon SeaVue maritime search radar in addition to a maritime optimised electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensor and a comprehensive communications suite.
