Washington – The government’s high- profile offensive to control the borders is spawning a growth market for the nation’s defense industry.
More than a half-dozen major contractors, including Lockheed Martin and Texas divisions of Raytheon and L-3 Communications, are preparing to compete for a multibillion- dollar Department of Homeland Security initiative designed to fortify the borders with an array of sophisticated technology.
The Secure Border Initiative will encompass what Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff describes as a “virtual fence” stretching 6,000 miles along the borders with Mexico and Canada, as well as 2,000 of miles of coastline.
Potential components include satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles, radar-equipped airships and next-generation replacements for thousands of sensors and mounted cameras already in place.
The gadgetry will augment an expanded force of Border Patrol agents.
Other ingredients will undoubtedly materialize after the department formally solicits proposals early next year. The initiative has been absorbed into the Secure Border Initiative. The cost was initially projected at $2.5 billion but will likely grow.
“The overall strategy over the next five years is to gain control of the border,” said Homeland Security spokesman Jarrod Agen. The plan will also likely include fencing in high-density urban areas, he said, but the primary focus will accent technology. “We’re basically looking at a 21st-century fence, not a 19th-century fence.”
Chertoff has set up an office in his department to oversee the competition, which industry officials expect to last for at least nine months before Homeland Security officials make a decision.
The project parallels an intense congressional debate over the presence of more than 11 million undocumented residents in the United States and the threat of a terrorist attack from Mexico or Canada. The issue has accelerated in recent weeks after President Bush outlined his immigration priorities in a speech in Tucson.
With the White House and many members of Congress insisting on toughened border security, energized defense contractors say they sense a growth market to take up the slack from tightening defense budgets and scaled-backed Pentagon contracts.
“The president’s speech has really lit this one up,” said Mark Reed, a former U.S. immigration official who heads Border Management Strategies, a consulting firm in Tucson. “Everybody is trying to play in the sandbox.”
