After an internal assessment initiated in January 2010, the Secretary of Homeland Security announced in January 2011 that she had directed CBP to end the SBInet program as originally conceived. According to DHS, the Secretary’s decision was informed by an independent analysis of cost- effectiveness, a series of operational tests and evaluations, and Border Patrol input. The prime contractor is to continue limited performance under the SBInet contract using a 1-year option for SBInet operations and maintenance services in Arizona beginning on April 1, 2011, with a possible 6-month extension. Further, according to CBP and the contractor, following a March 2010 decision by the Secretary halting further deployment of SBInet beyond the Tucson and Ajo Border Patrol stations, no additional SBInet deployments are expected. In addition, the Secretary’s decision to end the SBInet program limited Block 1 deployments to the Tucson and Ajo stations in the Tucson Sector, but did not affect the current SBInet Block 1 capability, which was developed based on updated requirements from the Border Patrol. The Block 1 capability consists of 15 sensor towers (with day/night cameras and radar) and 10 communication towers, which transmit surveillance signals to the Common Operating Pictures (COP) at station command centers. This capability remains deployed and operational in Arizona, as part of the Border Patrol Tucson Sector’s overall technology portfolio. According to contractor and Border Patrol officials, there were several original SBInet concepts that were not included in the Block 1 capability due to early design/cost trade-offs and Border Patrol agent feedback that they did not need them to perform their mission. Also, certain elements proved technically difficult and costly to include in the Block 1 capability. For example, the concepts to integrate transmissions from RVSS and MSS units into the COP, transmitting COP images into agents’ laptops in their vehicles and tracking Border Patrol agent deployments on the geographic display were not included. OTIA and Border Patrol officials told us that the SBInet program’s Block 1 capability has been useful since being deployed in February 2010 at the Tucson station and August 2010 at the Ajo station. For example, a shift commander at the Tucson station described the capability as considerably better than the technology that was available at the sector prior to the SBInet deployment. Further, according to COP operators in Tucson, the current SBInet sensor package is responsive to key mission requirements by giving them the capability to achieve persistent wide-area surveillance and situational awareness. Officials at Border Patrol headquarters stated that the Block 1 capability gave them a capability they did not have before. These officials also stated that, most importantly, the Block 1 capability helped them achieve persistent surveillance and situational awareness to enable an appropriate response to border intrusions and choose the location of interdiction, which they described as a tactical advantage. They also noted that the height of the towers allows for additional surveillance into terrain and brush thereby allowing the Border Patrol to shift personnel to gap areas where surveillance does not exist. Other examples of system usefulness offered by Border Patrol officials included a centralized point of data integration (through the COP), increased probability of arrest upon detection (by controlling the point of interdiction by means of camera and radar), improved agent safety when responding to potential threats, verification of whether a ground-sensor indicated a threat or not, efficiency and effectiveness in directing agent responses, and a tiered deployment of technology. For example, at the Ajo Station, a Border Patrol official explained that tiered deployment included mobile technology units that are positioned at the border line, and Block 1 sensor towers that are deployed off the line where they can monitor intruders who might have eluded interdiction at the border. The Secretary’s January 2011 announcement also stated that the SBInet capability had generated some advances in technology that had improved Border Patrol agents’ ability to detect, identify, track, deter, and respond to threats along the border. It further stated that the new border technology deployment plan would also include, where deemed appropriate by the Border Patrol, elements of the now-ended SBInet program that have proven successful. On the basis of limited data, the operational availability of deployed SBInet components has been consistent with the relevant requirement that expects SBInet to be operationally available 85 percent of the time. According to prime contractor operations and maintenance statistics for a 1-week period in January 2011, SBInet in the Tucson and Ajo Stations was operational over 96 percent of the time. According to the contractor’s logistics manager who oversees the operation and maintenance of SBInet, since the deployment is relatively recent, a full year’s worth of data would be needed to make conclusive determinations about long-term operational reliability and identify areas of persistent problems. The times that SBInet was not available were due primarily to camera malfunctions and power failures. According to Border Patrol and prime contractor officials, the SBInet Block 1 capability is receiving new features from the contractor in response to ongoing user input and feedback. These features include adding an “eye-safe” laser target illuminator (the eye-safe feature minimizes the potential for injury to a person exposed to the laser), adding a “standby” mode to the radar (wherein scanning is suspended until needed), and integrating the next-generation unattended ground sensors into the COP. However, this applies only to new sensors intended for Block 1—the Border Patrol has not selected a vendor for next-generation sensors for elsewhere along the border and outside of SBInet. The usefulness of SBInet’s Block 1 capability notwithstanding, OTIA and Border Patrol officials told us that it has certain shortcomings. These shortcomings include not having the mobility to respond to shifts in risk, facing terrain coverage (line-of-sight) gaps, some of which are mitigated through other technologies, and performing poorly in adverse weather. Further, according to OTIA, the SBInet capability as configured by the prime contractor is a proprietary and not an open architecture. Thus, it is unable to incorporate, for example, next-generation radar and cameras without significant integration work and cost. In addition, the SBInet capability has been costly to deploy and maintain. Specifically, the total task-order cost for the Block 1 deployment in Arizona was about $164 million. The operations and maintenance costs for the deployment are estimated to be up to about $1.5 million per month, or about $18 million per year. DHS is implementing a new approach for acquiring and deploying border security technology called “Alternative (Southwest) Border Technology” to replace the SBInet program. As part of this approach DHS is to deploy a mix of technologies, including RVSS, MSS, and hand-held equipment for use by Border Patrol agents. It also is to include a new Integrated Fixed Tower system that is slated for deployment along the border where the Border Patrol deems it appropriate, beginning with five high-risk areas in Arizona at an estimated cost of $570 million. While other elements of the plan may be deployed sooner, the deployment schedule for the Integrated Fixed Towers envisioned by OTIA and the Border Patrol is planned to begin in 2013, depending on funding availability. This plan suggests that OTIA and the Border Patrol have determined that the Integrated Fixed Tower system is a cost-effective solution in certain locations. However, due to the questions we have about how the Analysis of Alternatives (AOA) analyses and conclusions were factored into planning and budget decisions, the basis for DHS’s technology deployment plan is not yet clear. Further, the results of independent analyses were not complete at the time of the Secretary’s decision to end the SBInet program, thus any results on SBInet’s operational effectiveness could not inform the decisions to proceed with a possibly similar Integrated Fixed Tower system. According to the Border Patrol, its operational assessment for Arizona calls for deploying Integrated Fixed Tower systems to five high-threat areas in the state, beginning with the Nogales, Douglas, and Casa Grande Stations as part of this approach. These deployments will include 52 sensor towers, which is less than the 91 sensor towers envisioned under the original SBInet deployment plan. Border Patrol officials explained that they reviewed the contractor’s original analysis of where to put the towers and determined that other solutions, such as RVSSs and MSSs, were more appropriate due to terrain and other factors such as population density. According to OTIA and Border Patrol officials, depending on the availability of funding, the deployments of the Integrated Fixed Tower system component of the Arizona technology plan are expected to begin around March 2013 and be completed by the end of 2015 (or possibly early 2016), with other sector deployments sequentially following the Arizona sector. OTIA estimates that the entire Integrated Fixed Tower system acquisition for Arizona would cost about $570 million, including funding for design and development, equipment procurement, production and deployment, systems engineering and program management, and a national operations center. In this regard, the President’s fiscal year 2012 DHS budget request for BSFIT calls for $242 million to fund the first three Integrated Fixed Tower system deployments for Arizona, which include 36 sensor towers. Border Patrol officials told us that the existing SBInet capability and the requested Integrated Fixed Tower systems are intended to form the “baseline or backbone” of its evolving technology portfolio, where appropriate in high-risk areas in Arizona, with some exceptions. For example, in the urban areas of the Douglas and Naco Stations, RVSS units would likely be considered the backbone because they are better suited for populated areas where SBInet’s radar capability is not as effective. A Border Patrol official said that Integrated Fixed Tower systems could be an important technology component in additional areas along the southwest border, but that the agency had not yet made those determinations, pending the outcome of forthcoming operational assessments.