By Kolten Parker : September 11, 2014
mysanantonio.com


Photo By U.S. Customs and Border Protection, courtesy
An aerostat, used by the Border Patrol, is a 55-foot balloon with military-grade surveillance cameras that can read a license plate from miles away.

SAN ANTONIO – Eight 55-foot balloons with military-grade surveillance cameras are providing U.S. Border Patrol agents an eye in the sky along the Texas-Mexico border.

The blimp-like aerostats, which fly about 3,500 feet above the ground and are tethered to the ground, have 360-degree, infrared surveillance capability that can read a license plate from miles away, according to the Valley Morning Star.

"It's definitely been a game changer," Border Patrol spokesman Joe Gutierrez told the Valley Morning Star. "We place them strategically in locations where there's the most traffic. "Wherever the risk is greater, we focus resources and technology."

Five of the eight aerostats in Texas, which are manned 24 hours a day by agents, are deployed in the Rio Grande Valley. The federal agency has boosted the number of aerostats along the border since first being loaned three last year by the Department of Defense through an equipment reuse program.

Before providing views from above for Border Patrol agents combating illegal crossings and drug trafficking, the aerostats were utilized by U.S. military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In August, the Border Patrol added its fifth aerostat to the RGV sector. Two of the surveillance balloons are deployed in Starr County, two others are in use in Brooks County and one in Hidalgo County, according to a news release.

Rick Pauza, a spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, declined to identify specific locations or to provide footage shot by the aerostats because the "images are considered law enforcement sensitive."

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