Photo of the Week -- The Tethered Aerostat Radar System Keeps Eyes on the Border
Eight blimps, like this one in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, house video and radar equipment aimed at catching illegal border crossers, human smugglers and human traffickers.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security runs the Tethered Aerostat Radar System as a part of its border surveillance program. While funding was threatened for a time, the bill last October that reopened the federal government following the historic shutdown included an appropriation to fund the program through 2014. Eight blimps, like this one in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, house video and radar equipment aimed at catching illegal border crossers, human smugglers and human traffickers.