US gives Boeing contract for 'invisible fence' border monitoring

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2006

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US government has awarded aerospace and defense conglomerate Boeing a contract to build a high-tech "invisible fence" to protect its northern and southern borders, the Department of Homeland Security announced. Boeing's surveillance system involves raising 1,800 towers equipped with cameras and movement detectors along the 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles) of US land borders.

Some US press reports have put the value of the deal at 2.5 billion dollars, though Homeland Security officials declined to give a figure. The fence, dubbed the SBInet (Secure Border Initiative) program, will provide Homeland Security officials "with the best possible solution to detect, identify, classify, respond to and resolve illegal entry attempts at our land borders with...