Exploration of the Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles along with Other Assets to Enhance Border Protection

Abstract

Border protection is a vital national security issue for most countries. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is responsible for protecting the borders of the U.S. from terrorism, human and drug smuggling and illegal migration. The U.S. CBP improves manpower, technology and infrastructure along the border through various projects. In this study, part of the Tucson sector in Arizona is modeled in an agent-based model (MANA) to explore the effects of using a hand-launched, mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (miniUAV) along with other assets, such as Border Patrol (BP) agents, surveillance towers, the Predator B, seismic sensors and communication centers. The results from the runs of different scenarios, created by a Nearly-Orthogonal Latin Hypercube (NOLH) design, are analyzed using comparison tests, linear regression, and regression trees. As a result, the use of miniUAVs is found to be beneficial in capturing the illegal entrants in this analysis and thus could potentially provide more secure borders. Adequate manpower, in this case BP agents, and a reliable communication web to compose a Common Operational Picture (COP) emerge as the most important factors regarding border protection in this analysis.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2009
Accession Number
ADA501385

Entities

People

  • Bahri Yildiz

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Autonomy
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agent-Based Simulations
  • Aircrafts
  • Communication Systems
  • Detection
  • Detectors
  • Drug Trafficking
  • Experimental Design
  • Homeland Security
  • Information Systems
  • Personnel Management
  • Sensor Networks
  • Undocumented Noncitizens
  • Unmanned Aerial Systems
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
  • Unmanned Systems
  • Urban Areas
  • Warning Systems

Readers

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  • Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Autonomous Capabilities and Mission Reconnaissance.

Technology Areas

  • Autonomy
  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control