DHS S&T exploring situational awareness of small unmanned aircraft

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has earmarked $500,000 to a San Diego, Calif.-based firm to test small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) settings.

Officials said Planck Aerosystems would provide further testing and deployment of sUAS in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operational circumstances. This Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP) Phase 5 award is part of a partnership between SVIP and CBP to provide agents with tools that enhance situational awareness in the field.

“Planck has developed a breakthrough technology,” Ron McNeal, SVIP transition director, said. “Their ability to adapt the technology based on our feedback shows an understanding of what it takes to transition these much-needed capabilities to the government.”

Planck previously refined its sUAS offering in consideration of CBP requirements and input — including autonomous navigation, automatic target detection and geolocation, and features aiding and supporting CBP agents in-vehicle or on foot.

Planck demonstrated the desired features and the system’s capability to autonomously launch and land an sUAS from the bed of a moving vehicle during Phase 4 testing, according to officials.

“CBP is excited about this Phase 5 agreement that will provide training and hands-on flight time to our CBP agents in their operational environments,” Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Ryan Yamasaki said. “This is a wonderful opportunity for our agents to provide operator feedback and fully explore this technology in support of CBP’s homeland security mission.”