On June 26, Elbit Systems of America announced it has been awarded an approximately $26 million contract from the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to install an Integrated Fixed Towers (IFT) system in the U.S. Border Patrol Casa Grande Area of Responsibility (AoR) in Arizona. The project will be performed over a one-year period. To date, Elbit Systems of America has been awarded a number of contracts from CBP to install IFT systems in numerous AoR’s covering a total of approximately 200 miles of the Arizona-Mexico border.
Elbit Systems, a U.S. subsidiary of an Israeli defense contractor based in Fort Worth, has been producing the towers since 2015. They are not meant as a wall replacement but as an enhancement, according to Elbit Systems.
The IFT system comprises a command and control center and a networked multi-tower, multi-sensor system that continuously monitors portions of the U.S. southern border. Information from the towers is sent to the command and control center and a Border Patrol Station providing agents with long-range, persistent surveillance and situational awareness that allows them to dispatch an appropriate response. This capability provides greater safety for the agents patrolling the border in the Casa Grande AoR, according to the company.
President and Chief Executive Officer Ranaan Horowitz said, “Elbit Systems of America is honored to have been selected by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Tohono O’odham Nation to provide a solution to suit the needs of those living and working along the border in the Casa Grande Area of Responsibility,” said Ranaan Horowitz, CEO of Elbit Systmes. “This project clearly demonstrates our company’s mission to provide innovative solutions that protect and save lives.”
For more on Elbit’s border technologies:
www.nextgenborder.com.
For more on Elbit in Fort Worth:
www.fortworthbusiness.com/news/elbit-leader-many-don-t-know-what-fort-worth-has/article_8ccf666e-9459-11e9-826b-67924a21d66b.html