New/Old Technology helping to secure Southern Border

"U.S. Testing Surveillance Balloons on Mexico Border

ROMA, Texas (AP) - Floating 2,500-feet above scrub-covered U.S. ranchland near the Mexico border, the payload of high-tech cameras onboard a balloon being used by the Border Patrol can easily see a cluster of reporters and the make, model and color of their vehicles a couple of miles away."

Aerostats and Balloons have been used by the military since the time of the Civil War. From use as Artillery Observation to Airborne Radars to help secure the borders. This technology has been around for hundreds of years. Not the Radar, but the Balloons. In World War II Barrage Balloons kept low flying strafing attacks off of our troops, and installations, and were pivotal during D-Day while our troops and supplies got to shore.

Now they are being pressed into service again on our Southern Border, however I question the use of only two of them, considering just how large our border is, and how large the unsecured areas actually are. Considering the much reduced cost of operation and the ability to maintain surveillance 24/7 with just minor downtime for maintenance, you would think we would have dozens of these on the border to help our over burdened Police, Sheriffs, Border Patrol and ICE agents.