Santa Teresa, NM
31°49'14.4"N 106°41'59.2"W
Tactical Aerostat System (TAS)
Remote Video Surveillance System (RVSS) on unclassified tower type
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) uses a variety of aerostats (lighter-than-air aircraft that remain aloft through the use of a buoyant gas) that are usually tethered re-locatable. These aerostats typically look similar but vary in size, operational altitude, and surveillance capabilities. The aerostat pictured here, deployed over the Santa Teresa Border Patrol Station in southern New Mexico in May 2023, is part of the Tactical Aerostat System (TAS), which uses aerostats that are smaller than those of the Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS). TAS aircraft are manufactured by the privately-held American military contractor Peraton, based in Reston, Virginia. Peraton was formed in 2017 when the private equity firm Veritas Capital acquired the government services division of the now-defunct Harris Corporation. The company has since acquired a number of other IT businesses, and as of January 2024 is the largest privately owned federal IT contractor according to market research firm TBR.
Tactical aerostats have been used by CBP to provide aerial coverage since they were first deployed in South Texas in 2012. There are three types of aerostats in the TAS, all of which utilize full-motion video: the Persistent Threat Detection System (PTDS), the Persistent Ground Surveillance System (PGSS), and the Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment (RAID) system. As of 2016, CBP owned the RAID aerostats and leased the PTDS and PGSS aerostats from the Department of Defense. In 2022, additional tactical aerostats were deployed in Arizona and New Mexico.
A 2016 GAO study found that CBP's ability to successfully deploy and operate tactical aerostats in South Texas was impacted by issues of airspace access, weather, and real estate—particularly the need to negotiate access to private property with landowners and the consider environmental and wildlife impacts. The FY 2024 CBP budget includes a plan to cut all funding for the operations and sustainment of the TAS, effectively decommissioning the program. The U.S. Border Patrol explained that the TAS were no longer needed since "the systems can be replaced with fixed or relocatable tower technology, mobile technology, or subterranean technology in the areas vacated by aerostats".