The Biden administration is drastically reducing the number of surveillance blimps, aerostats, at the U.S.-Mexico border due to cost amid the ongoing crisis as illegal entries into the country remain at historic highs.
Aerostats are one of the surveillance tools used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to detect attempted gotaways, which are at all-time highs. One of the advantages aerostats have over helicopters and airplanes is the length of time they can stay in the air.
Fox News reports out of the 12 aerostats that were originally contracted out, only four will now remain in the Rio Grande Valley Sector:
The Department of Defense, which agreed to spend $52 million to continue operating aerostats through to the end of FY 2022, which ended in October, after the Department of Homeland Security cut funding for the program. Read more…
