Increased use of UAVs in border protection hobbled by shortage of UAV pilots

As hopes that SBInet, the ambitious virtual fence project along the U.S.-Mexico border, will ever live up to its promise recede, DHS has increased the role of UAVs in border monitoring; UAVs require pilots to fly them remotely, though, and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has had trouble finding trained pilots remotely to fly the aircraft; Maj. Gen. Michael Kostelnik, assistant commissioner of CBP's Air and Marine Office: "The greatest near-term challenge faced is a shortage of pilots and sensor operators, specifically pilots certified to launch and land the aircraft". Indeed, Nextgov’s Jill R. Aitoro writes that the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has increasingly been relying more on unmanned aerial vehicles to patrol the U.S. borders, but the bureau has had trouble finding trained pilots remotely to fly the aircraft, a DHS official told Congress yesterday. The use of UAVs has expanded from primarily the military to homeland security, with CBP using the vehicles to scan the border for illegal immigrants and to support disaster relief operations...more