A Virtual Fence

Area Development Site and Facility Planning, Oct/Nov 2006

THE U.S. government has awarded the Boeing Co. a contract to build a high-tech "invisible fence" to protect the nation's northern and southern borders, according to an announcement from the Department of Homeland Security.

Boeing will erect 1,800 towers equipped with cameras and movement detectors along the nation's 6,200 miles of border at an unconfirmed cost of $2.5 billion. The SBInet (Secure Border Initiative) will provide Homeland Security "with the best possible solution to detect, Identify, classify, respond to, and resolve illegal entry attempts," the department noted. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff described the surveillance system as "a virtual fence."