http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americ....ap/index.html

CNN
POSTED: 12:42 p.m. EST, January 12, 2007

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) -- Unmanned surveillance aircraft will start patrolling the Canadian border by this fall, a Department of Homeland Security official said.

The propeller-driven drones, called Predators, will begin patrolling U.S. airspace along the border with Canada by September and will fly day and night, said Scott Baker, chief patrol agent of Customs and Border Protection, an arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

Baker recently took over the job in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and is responsible for guarding the 850-mile (1,368-kilometer) stretch of the border between Lake Superior and Montana.

"Just one of the wrong people getting through, driving through our border area, could spell catastrophe," Baker said. "So, it is a concern."

U.S. lawmakers repeatedly have voiced concerns that terrorists could exploit the remoteness of the northern border with Canada.

Predators, known by the military as unmanned aerial vehicles, have flown missions along the U.S.-Mexico border for several years, Baker said. They can cover about 850 miles (1,368 kilometers) in a five-hour mission and can remain airborne for up to 36 hours.

Depending on lighting conditions and weather, their cameras can detect a person on the ground and identify movements, but are not accurate enough to show facial features.

The patrols, which will extend along the entire 5,430 mile (8,737-kilometer) U.S.-Canadian border, initially will begin with one drone flying out of Grand Forks, said Baker. Other drones will be added later to the patrol.

The American government chose a base in Grand Forks as its Predator hub in part because of its location at the heart of the continent, Baker said.

"We're dead center on the northern border," he said. "So, they can go either way, and they're equidistant."

Many Canadians might be taken aback by the use of the Predators to track cross-border traffic, one Canadian defense analyst said.

"Didn't we have the longest undefended border for a very, very long time?" asked Ian Glenn, chairman of ING Engineering, an Ottawa consulting firm. However, he acknowledged the machines likely will be productive.

"Will it be a deterrent to terrorist activity? Yes, I guess."
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All those Canadian achor babies have me skeered chitless! Thank God the booshman has his priorities in order.