The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] received full acceptance of its SBInet Project 28 (P28) border security prototype Thursday from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
A demonstration of the SBInet security solution, P28 networks cameras, radars, sensors and communications along 28 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border near Sasabe, Ariz. Developed as a proof-of-concept of Boeing’s overall SBInet technology solution, P28 serves as a test and evaluation system in an operational environment.
Using P28 technology, Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 2,000 illegal immigrants during initial operations testing between September 2007 and February 2008. In the coming months, CBP will conduct operational and technical tests of P28.
“We’re very happy the customer has accepted P28,” said Jack Chenevey, Boeing SBInet program manager. “While we’ve learned a lot from the integration work we’ve completed, the information we’ll capture from actual frontline field use of the system is invaluable to our systems engineering and design efforts for future SBInet technology deployments.”
By the end of the year, Boeing will replace P28 mobile surveillance towers as part of the larger Tucson Sector deployment with permanent towers equipped with camera, radar and communications technology that incorporate feedback from operational tests.