DHS Plans Experiment Running 'Reconnaissance' Drones Along the US-Canada Border

"The US Department of Homeland Security, in collaboration with the Defense Research and Development Canada, is looking to send autonomous drones and vehicles along the US-Canada border this fall, testing which products can stream surveillance video and sensor data between the two countries using commercial 5G networks."

"A new DHS call for participants frames the experiment, known as ACE-CASPER, as a multiday exercise "simulating a national emergency response scenario," with drones and ground vehicles relaying live feeds to a bi-national command-and-control center as they cross the border. Vehicle autonomy, the document notes, is secondary to its primary aim: demonstrating "resilient, persistent 5G communications.""

"While couched in public safety, search and rescue, and emergency response, DHS describes many of the capabilities the experiment will exercise in martial terms, asking vendors to demonstrate, for instance, the ability of autonomous vehicles to gather "real-time battlefield intelligence." The sought-after aerial systems are described as "Command and Control: Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance" platforms-or C2ISR-an acronym borrowed from the US Department of Defense, linked to the improvement of "kill chains.""

The US Department of Homeland Security, with Defense Research and Development Canada, plans to deploy autonomous drones and ground vehicles along the US-Canada border in November. The ACE-CASPER exercise will simulate a national emergency response scenario, with vehicles crossing the border while relaying live surveillance video and sensor data to a bi-national command-and-control center. The primary focus is demonstrating resilient, persistent 5G communications using commercial 5G networks, while vehicle autonomy is secondary. The effort builds on earlier cross-border drills under CAUSE from 2011 to 2017, which tested sharing radios, video, and data. Although framed as public safety and emergency response, procurement materials request capabilities described in martial terms, including real-time battlefield intelligence and C2ISR platforms linked to improving kill chains.

Read at WIRED