A US-based military contractor whose drones are used to surveil the US–Mexico border.
AeroVironment, Inc., headquartered in Arlington, Va., is a military contractor that primarily sells small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS), or drones, as well as unmanned ground vehicles and small missile systems, to the U.S. military and other government agencies.
AeroVironment has provided small aerial drones (sUAS) to U.S. immigration authority Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which uses them as one component of the “smart” border wall. As of 2020, Border Patrol had over 135 sUAS, with plans to eventually have a fleet of 460 patrol drones.
In 2019, CBP awarded AeroVironment a $5.25 million contract for its Puma 3 AE drones. CBP uses these drones to scan land and sea “border area[s] for activity” and to track people in “difficult-to-reach border areas.” In a 2018 Privacy Impact Assessment, CBP explained that sUAS “provide [Border Patrol agents] with access to previously inaccessible border areas (due to rugged or difficult terrain)." Unlike manned aircraft or ground patrols, sUAS grant CBP agents access to "persistent, omnipresent, and discreet surveillance capabilities." CBP has also stated that its sUAS program can support Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigations of undocumented immigrants by providing video images, photographs, radiofrequency emissions, and location data of people attempting to cross the border.
A 2018 report by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General found that "CBP has not ensured effective safeguards for surveillance information, such as images and video, collected on and transmitted from its UAS." In addition, numerous immigrant justice and civil liberties groups have advocated against the adoption of drones and other smart wall technologies at the border. Jacinta Gonzales, a senior campaign organizer with immigrant justice organization Mijente, has stated that, “What we've seen over and over again is, a lot of these companies, they start to create new technologies for war zones, they bring them to a militarized border, and then they start to use them across the U.S. We then start to see these technologies normalized and brought to local police departments."
CBP first began testing the capabilities of sUAS, including AeroVironment’s Raven and Puma drones, for surveilling remote areas along the U.S.–Mexico border in 2017. The company trained 25 Border Patrol agents on how to fly its sUAS. In 2021, CBP’s sUAS program reportedly led to “roughly 3,500 individuals detected, resulting in more than 2,700 apprehensions” that year.
AeroVironment has expanded its reach within the industry by acquiring private companies that design and manufacture drone surveillance and reconnaissance systems. In August 2022, for example, the company acquired Planck Aerosystems, a U.S.-based technology company that specializes in drone navigation systems. AeroVironment has stated that it will integrate these systems, which include machine-learning object detection and tracking technologies, into its drones.
Military Drones and Missile Systems
AeroVironment provides its drones and other technologies to U.S. and foreign military agencies. Since 2008, the company has held just under $2.8 billion worth of contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense. According to an AeroVironment product catalog, the company "has delivered the vast majority of all unmanned aircraft in the U.S. Department of Defense inventory." Some of these aircraft include intelligence and surveillance drones that can be hand-launched and transported in a car or backpack. In 2023, U.S. military agencies purchased over $5.5 million worth of the company’s Blackwing loitering drones, Puma and Raven drones, and other unspecified sUAS.
AeroVironment also manufactures the Switchblade 600 Kamikaze, a small, portable, and rapidly deployable advanced fire loitering missile system that acts as a “suicide drone.” In October 2023, during its genocidal attacks on Gaza, Israel submitted a request to the U.S. government for 200 of these drones. It is unclear whether they were ever delivered to or used by Israel.