Merrimack firm hopes to build border camera network

[KBCraig]

I first clicked this link thinking it was about a tech firm and jobs. What a surprise!

http://unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Merrimack+firm+partners+with+Boeing%2c+offering+expertise+in+electro-optical+tech&articleId=886d56c6-3263-4021-89ac-42182d69a98c

Merrimack firm partners with Boeing, offering expertise in electro-optical tech

By SON HOANG
Union Leader Correspondent

MERRIMACK ? Kollsman Inc. is hoping its world-class surveillance technology will secure part of a $2 billion U.S. Department of Homeland Security contract to secure America's borders and reduce illegal immigration.

The Mexican border and New Hampshire's Canadian border could benefit from the initiative in the first three years of the contract, the company said.

Kollsman, an Elbit Systems of America company, has joined a team led by Boeing Co. to compete for the Secure Borders Initiative (SBI) Program, or SBInet, a multiyear plan to secure the country's borders by integrating cameras and sensors with communications systems.

Kollsman and Elbit have a solid track record in exactly the type of security system Homeland Security might want, the company said. Elbit provided a border control and management system to the Israeli Defense Forces Border Security Program known as the Long-Range Reconnaissance and Observation System (LORROS), which the company believes is the best in the world.

"Which country has the most secure border? It's Israel," said Donald Goff, Elbit vice president of government relations.

Goff said Boeing selected Kollsman to be part of its team to provide detection and surveillance systems because of its proven record of work as a worldwide provider to commercial and military markets of advanced electro-optical and avionics systems.

"I know when Boeing was putting together a team, they knew us and felt comfortable with us," Goff said.

"We did some significant work in Israel."

Other members of the Boeing Team include DRS Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group, of Palm Bay, Fla.; L-3 Government Services Inc., of Salt Lake City; Perot Systems, of Plano, Texas; and Unisys Global Public Sector, of Reston, Va.

In Israel, LORROS uses a combination of visual and thermal imaging systems that can be used for border surveillance, site security and suspicious activities reconnaissance.

In a statement, Larry Cassenti, Kollsman's SBInet program manager, said the proof of Kollsman's prowess is in Israel.

Kollsman, he said, has a "demonstrated ability to bring proven Israeli border security technology to the USA."

The exact nature of the work and the bidding competition for the contract are ongoing, and Goff declined to go into specific details of what is included as part of Kollsman and the Boeing team's proposal.

He said the contract would be for three years, with an option for three additional years, and initially would cover work along the U.S. border with Mexico near Tucson, Ariz., and along the New York and New Hampshire borders with Canada.

The deadline to submit proposals for SBInet was May 30. Goff said he expects the number of competitors to be downsized to two by mid-September and the contract will be awarded before the end of September.

Besides the Boeing team, Lockheed Martin Corp. of Bethesda, Md.; Raytheon Co. of Waltham, Mass.; Northrop Grumman Corp. of Los Angeles and Ericsson Inc. of Sweden are leading teams competing for the contract.

[Tom Sawyer]

Hey, if it's good enough for Israel...

[Minsk]

I'm not sure what "Canada" they're thinking of putting cameras along. This one has an awful lot of people with rifles. And I know a fair number who would love to promote their drunken target shooting from rural animal-crossing signs to something expensive, foreign-state-funded, and well into the boonies... Might want to make sure they put that a few km south of the border 

[Dave Ridley]

<< Which country has the most secure border? It's Israel," said Donald Goff, Elbit vice president of government relations.>>

Great, always wanted to be more like Israel.  Sigh.