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Tunnel Vision: Taking the War on Terror Underground


June 15, 2009 - BAY SAINT LOUIS, MISSISSIPPI
The custom built IS6 sensor is attached to the bottom of a helicopter and flown over suspected underground target locations.
This 2006 IS6 product clearly denotes the thermal shadow of a tunnel at the US border in Calexico, California
This IS6 image highlights another Calexico, California tunnel running from Mexico into California under a busy street.

fA new technology promises to locate terrorists and drug smugglers in the underground tunnels and caves where they hide.

 

The system uses a helicopter fittefd with a sensor able to detect subtle changes in terrain and ground temperature originating under the Earth's surface.  Specialized software processes this information to highlight locations of underground targets such as tunnels. 

                                       

Using this technology, trained experts can fly over an area and "see" up to 80 feet deep into the earth to find caves, tunnels, pipes, and even leaks in levees not visible from the ground.

 

The system is called INSITE VI (IS6) and in 2006 its creators flew a live test for United States officials from several agencies. The test required locating six known tunnels from the air originally found through informants on the ground.  The subterranean IS6 map revealed nine tunnels including three yet undiscovered smuggling routes into California.  

 

This year the IS6 team performed another test along the London Canal in New Orleans, Louisiana uncovering a stretch of levee with signififcant water seepage through tiny faults foreshadowing future breaches or collapse.

 

The specialized software helps the IS6 team locate areas to fly by analyzing above ground geography for key elements needed by criminals working underground.  For example drug cartels building tunnels under the US borders need buildings on both sides to cover entry and exit into the US.  Insurgents using caves in Afghanistan or Pakistan need geographic features such as water sources and travel routes near hideouts.

 

The patented IS6 system is the result of a partnership among three US companies.  NVision Solutions Inc., Aerotec LLC, and EnTech Engineering Inc. are jointly marketing the system to the US government and the utilities industry.  

 

"This technology is an exciting development in our nation's defense capability," said Craig Harvey, Executive VP and Chief Operations Officer of NVision, "America's enemies can run, but now it will be a lot harder to hide."

 

The following links connect to recent news broadcasts highlighting the threat of tunnels to the US at home and abroad.

 

Fox News Broadcast
http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/m/22418241/tunnels-of-terror.htm

Time Magazine Article
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1895430,00.html?cnn=yes
 
CNN Broadcast
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2009/06/12/pkg.mexico.drug.tunnel.kold
 


 

 

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