Comprehensive land and sea border surveillance and security systems are entirely feasible with today’s technology. So assures specialist Germany-based Airbus DS Electronics and Border Security, part of Airbus Defence and Security, itself part of the Airbus Group. “We are for sure the market leader in this part of the [defence and security] business,” affirms Airbus DS Electronics and Border Security Integrated Systems VP Dr Thomas Jacob. “We have secured more than 10 000 km of borders.” The company has undertaken major projects in France, Romania, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, delivering its border and coastal surveillance systems to those countries.

Border security systems can be tailored to the different needs of different countries and can vary considerably in their sophistication and expense. They can range from small, relatively simple and local to huge, complex and national in scale. “What does border security mean? Observe, detect, decide and act,” he sums up. Activity beyond the border must first be observed and any subsequent violation of the border must be detected. The process of deciding what to do about the intrusion includes identifying any threats. Acting means intercepting the intruder(s). And there is a final element: learning. Using experience gained with the border security system to constantly improve it.

“These are systems of systems,” he highlights. “It’s not just sensors. You have to integrate a lot of systems.” At the very least, an effective border security system has to integrate sensors with a command and control system. “You may have a fence, or not have a fence. A fence is basically a deterrent.”

All the company’s border security systems use both camera and radars; for national-level frontier surveillance, they are integrated with modern command, control, communications and computer (C4) systems. The sensors can be mounted on extensible masts carried by vehicles, or on towers up to 100 m in height. “The towers have no operators,” explains Jacob. “They are totally automatic and can be completely remote-controlled.” Such systems operate 24/7/365. Depending on the terrain and target (whether it is a person or a truck) and the height of the tower, the range of the sensors on a tower can range from 20 km to 30 km to significantly more than that.

“It’s very important to provide good training with the delivery of such technology,” he adds. Such training is one of the services supplied by the company.

The company can even supplement such a terrestrial system with satellite imagery. “We, Airbus Defence and Space, own satellites and do surveillance from satellites,” he points out. Such surveillance cannot be real time. “You have [coverage] once a day, twice a day [depending on the satellite’s orbit]. You can cover huge areas; [but] you don’t have continuous coverage.” Satellites can detect, but tracking requires the use of other assets and systems, such as manned aircraft or unmanned air vehicles as well as the sensor tower systems.

Airbus Defence and Space provided satellite imagery for the joint South African Navy/French Navy Exercise Oxide (which also involved the South African Air Force and South African Special Forces) in September last year. The imagery was downloaded in Germany and transmitted to South Africa.

The company has also been active in undisclosed North African States. There, it has developed systems on differing scales, depending on the country’s budget and the threats it faces. It is also holding discussions with other countries, elsewhere in Africa.

Keith Campbell visited Airbus DS Electronics and Border Security in Ulm, Germany, late last year, as a guest of the company.