ABSTRACT
With their ability to loiter undetected for hour upon hour, the UAVs of the US military provide it with an unparalleled Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) edge (see Blackmore 2005). The US Air Force’s Predator UAV aircraft have become battle-hardened in the skies above Afghanistan and Iraq in recent years, providing the US military’s eyes in the sky. However, these aircraft are now being put to a number of different uses, so impressed have politicians and military personnel been by their abilities. One of the most significant of these
roles is that of border enforcement with these craft deployed within and outside of the US to secure international boundaries. UAVs are well suited to this task with their ability to sit and watch over the border, replacing the border patrol agents as the primary watchers of remote and inaccessible stretches of international boundaries. Controlled by a pilot located several miles away, the sensor arrays that the Predators carry provide real time imagery, and video streaming. Although not the first and only aircraft to be used to provide aerial surveillance in this way, the inherent characteristics of UAVs have resulted in their significant move from a military to civilian law enforcement tool in a way that has not been witnessed before.
