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By Nick Mordowanec
Staff Writer
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A partnership between a U.S.-Mexico border community and longtime drone manufacturer aims to elevate not just national security but also other daily tasks undertaken by members of law enforcement.
Why It Matters
Illegal immigration has continued to be a top priority for the federal government after being touted by President Donald Trump and top officials on the campaign trail. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in June that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 66,463 illegal immigrants and removed 65,682 in Trump's first 100 days in office.
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Drones have been used for law enforcement and military purposes for well over a decade, both domestically and internationally, to provide officers the ability to cover wider ranges of terrain and use different and constantly evolving technology to nab criminals and others who break the law. They have been used along the Texas-Mexico border, for example.
What To Know
Cochise County, in the southeastern corner of Arizona, spans roughly 84 miles of the U.S. border with Mexico. It has dealt with illegal immigration head-on for countless years.
"We have units dedicated to border operations," Cochise County Sheriff's Office Captain Tim Williams, who oversees the department's Special Operations Division, told Newsweek on Wednesday.
"We've seen the huge fluctuation over the years of head-to-toe camouflage guys coming across with huge backpacks in the desert mountain terrain, all the way to tons of give-ups where they come across the border and just sit down and say, 'Yep, here.'"
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Local and federal efforts have dramatically dwindled the number of illegal border crossers, Williams said.
During the Biden administration, Cochise County had highs of over 8,000 crossings per month. Now, that number on average is roughly 200.
But the efforts continue for future deterrence. That's where Draganfly comes in.
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Draganfly bills itself as an industry leader in professional drone manufacturing—working with clients to provide various drones, contract engineering services, custom software, professional unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) services and more.
It primarily manufactures drones for law enforcement, industrial and military partners.
"We've been manufacturing and providing drone capabilities for 27 years," Draganfly CEO Cameron Chell told Newsweek via phone. "In fact, the first drone that was ever credited with saving a human life was a Draganfly drone, and it sits on permanent display at the Smithsonian."
Chell said his company linked up with Cochise County for this new trial, expected to launch in the fall, due to being privy about its importance as a border community and the "innovative work" it does along the southern border in terms of utilizing technology.
"They've got this great system that can recognize at a very high efficiency rate people crossing the border," he said. "Their cameras haven't been found and they've got a good response system.
"But the challenge that they have been having is they get into a situation where it still may take 45 minutes, or even two hours, to get to a location. And often, the locations are high altitude or in inclement weather—whether it's heat or cold or whatever the case."
Williams said he became better acquainted with the company during a national sheriffs' conference, looking at potentially broadening his department's drone repertoire.
"We have several drones that we use for just not only border operations, but search-and-rescue, crime scene analysis, traffic scene analysis," Williams said. "We use drones quite a bit in our fleets, which are aging.
"[We and Draganfly] started the conversation about, like, what are some of our issues we're seeing; what we would like to see that's changing and getting better. And that's kind of where the conversation took to building a new concept."
Drone Specs Offer 'Huge' Advantages
Chell said the drone model likely to head to Cochise County will be a significantly modified version of the Heavy Lift model. The current base model has a payload of 66 pounds and provides an average of 55 minutes of flight time, costing in the area of $55,500. Variations of the Heavy Lift can fly from around 1 to 6 miles.
Different drones do different things, Chell explained. There's a fixed-wing drone that has wings on it and is productive in terms of gathering intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. Those generally fly at a bit of a higher altitude and can stay aloft for hours at a time.
Multi-rotor drones typically get 30 minutes of flight time, which wouldn't aid the seven hours aloft with continuous battery life that Cochise is seeking. So, Chell and his company came up with a plan.
The drone in development is about 9 feet across, has eight blades and is described as a hybrid drone with two 70CC combustion engines that can run on a variety of fuels.
It also has a significant battery and power management system, while batteries can be charged on board. It equates to about seven hours of flight time at just under 80 mph, operating as high as 11,000 feet.
"What we have here is a multi-mission drone that can do everything a fixed-wing drone can do, but can also do anything that you would hope a multi-rotor drone would do," Chell said.
Williams, who said a final price tag associated with the new drone won't be determined until later this year, said the partnership only adds to his department's progressive nature in terms of not shying away from new technology—and using it to their benefit.
He said having a drone that can stay aloft for hours at a time would be "huge," not just for border security but for operations like looking for lost hikers or investigating potential dangers in mountain ranges.
"We've always been on the forefront to secure and make our areas as safe as possible," Williams said. "Our goal has always been community safety. National security starts at the local level. Being in our community, telling the community what we're doing, being observed—they can see that we're making a difference."
What Happens Next
Williams said a demo of the new drone is slated to be unveiled at the end of September during a Southwest Border Conference, with hopes of a workable flying device by November 3.
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