Customs And Border Protection Unveil Predator Surveillance Aircraft

SIERRA VISTA, AZ - OCTOBER 30: Ground crew members prepare the new MQ-9 Predator B, an unmanned surveillance aircraft system, unveiled by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), for its first mission at Libby Army Airfield at Ft. Huachuca October 30, 2006 in Sierra Vista, Arizona. CBP will use the new MQ-9 Predator aircraft to patrol the southern border of the United States in order to stop the illegal entry of thousands of Mexican nationals and drug runners who use the vast expanses of the Sonoran desert to cross into southern Arizona, daily. The new unarmed plane flew briefly for the press to show off its surveillance capabilities by pilots of the contractor, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. Agents of CBP will start training on the use of the aircraft very soon. The Predator will start full scale flight operations along the Mexico-Arizona border today. (Photo by Gary Williams/Getty Images)