U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials hope operational drug-interdiction tests of a prototype surveillance version of the Predator B unmanned aerial system (UAS) will spur acquisition of several more for maritime missions.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has begun air vehicle and system tests of the Guardian UAS at Point Mugu NAS, Calif., following its delivery to the service's Gray Butte facility on Dec. 7. The Homeland Security Dept.'s CBP, in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard, will use the Predator B variant to evaluate its suitability for reconnaissance, surveillance and targeting acquisition in coastal waters, where drug smuggling is rife.

The modified aircraft -- distinguished from other Predators by a large belly-mounted Raytheon APS-134 SeaVue surveillance radar and prominent wingtip-mounted UHF/VHF radio antennas -- will ultimately be deployed to the drug-source and transit zones to support joint counter-narcotics missions against drug-running "go-fast boats" and semi-submersible craft.

USAF Maj. Gen. (ret.) Michael Kostelnik, CBP Office of Air and Marine assistant commissioner, says the Guardian development was accelerated to combat what he describes as "a tremendous explosion" of sophisticated drug-smuggling vessels. As well as the self-propelled semi-submersibles, he says the main targets include the "go-fast boats," which can each carry 10-12 tons of narcotics.

Based on experience gained with operations of the CBP's land-based Predator Bs "and given our responsibilities on the border, and the flow of narcotics, it made sense that we should explore a maritime version of the land-based version," he says. The system will "go through a brief but intense operational evaluation, and then we expect to deploy it into mission areas early in the spring. When we put this one-of-a-kind asset to the test, we expect to see some good results," he adds.

"The contractor will undertake initial aircraft performance testing and will illuminate the radar to make sure everything is working at Point Mugu," says Douglas Koupash, CBP Office of Air and Marine mission support executive director. Following these trials, the UAS will be transferred to Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., where it will begin its operational test and evaluation in early 2010.

Although OT&E is provisionally slated to last for three months or more, Koupash says it could go a lot quicker. "Depending on the weather, testing could take as little as six weeks because we've done a lot of it before." Prior to vehicle development, the CBP worked with the Navy's Sea Systems Command to develop the ocean surveillance initiative software, a key element of the vehicle's control software.

The Homeland Security Dept. already has experience operating six Predator Bs for U.S. border patrol as well as in support of hurricane and flood response. The CBP first deployed the UAS in law enforcement operations on the U.S. southwest border in 2005 and along the northern border in 2009. The service operates three Predator Bs from Libby Army Airfield in Sierra Vista, Ariz., and two additional aircraft from Grand Forks AFB, N.D.

A second Guardian is due to be delivered to NAS Corpus Christi, Tex., around March, although the radar will not be fitted for several months because of high demand for the sensor, says Koupash. The APS-134 provides inverse synthetic aperture radar imaging surveillance, as well as SAR, weather detection and avoidance modes, small-target detection, long-range detection, moving-target indicator and search-and-rescue transponder modes. The same radar is used on the CBP's Bombardier Dash 8 multirole patrol aircraft, as well as the Coast Guard's Lockheed Martin P-3, and it has been designed to be interchangeable with the Guardian installation.

Given a trouble-free OT&E and early drug-busting results, Koupash believes acquisitions of additional Guardian systems could follow the initial deployment. The service has a strategic plan for up to 18 "Predator-type" vehicles, of which "at least six" will be for maritime missions, he adds.

A major focus for the Guardian effort was the rapid development of a low-drag radar pod, says Scott Dann, General Atomics aircraft systems group domestic programs manager. The pod, which can be adapted to take Selex and Elta surveillance radars, has a 40% lower drag coefficient than an earlier-generation housing, thanks to intense use of computational fluid dynamics design techniques. "Our aerodynamicist said, ‘Let's start with the basic shape of a hockey puck and go from there,'" notes Dann.

"I think it's a game-changer for the maritime environment. We have been very successful with our land-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, but two-thirds of the world is ocean," he says. Ongoing work includes development of a ­smaller ground control station, which will be deployable using Coast Guard C-130s or Air Force C-17s.

Photo: General Atomic