U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Thermal Video Captures 17 Crossing Border In California

General Dynamics to supply thermal imaging cameras to Border Patrol to spot ultra-light aircraft Tue, 2013-11-05 03:15 PM By: Jacob Goodwin CBP has awarded a contract worth more than $67,000 to General Dynamics Global Imaging Technologies, Inc. to supply its Z-500 long-range thermal imaging cameras for the U.S. Border Patrol to use at its Calexico Station in California to spot criminal organizations crossing the border in ultra-light aircraft. “The Calexico Station currently lacks the capability to efficiently monitor the criminal organizations and terrorists engaging in or planning illicit activities along the U.S. border,” says a CBP award notice posted on November 4. “Current Thermal Cameras are insufficient, outdated, and often fail; land units are unable to exploit the use of new camera technology due to there being none. As a result, Calexico Station requests to modernize and reinforce its current capabilities based on the criminal organizations methods being used to evade Border Patrol enforcement.” The Z-500 is the only camera thermal imaging system that is compatible with the Remote Video Surveillance System (RVSS), which is also being used at the Calexico Station. “With outstanding long-range target detection and recognition, the Z-500 continuous zoom long-range thermal imager is the camera of choice for force protection and surveillance,” says General Dynamics on its own Web site. “User-defined preset field-of-view options offer the user unprecedented mission flexibility. The camera is easily integrated into any command and control system and provides easy-to-use push button interaction. With its ruggedized design and cooled infrared detector […]