U.S. spy aircraft patrol northern border - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

U.S. spy aircraft patrol northern border

FORT DRUM, N.Y. — U.S. border officials are testing an unmanned surveillance aircraft on the U.S.-Canadian border along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River to judge whether the drones can be used more widely along the northern border.

The area includes a crossing where cigarette and drug smuggling have been a continuing problem.

The remote-controlled Predator B can remain aloft for up to 20 hours and takes infrared images and video of anything within a 25-mile radius.

Border officials say they have used the drones on the Mexican border for about five years. They began flying the first Predator on the northern border from Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D., in February.

This mission is launching Wheeler-Sack Air Field, 100 miles north of Syracuse.