Project 28

Project 28
Name	Project 28
Country	United States
Status	Decommissioned / Classified program
Launched	2017
Operator	United States Department of Homeland Security, Police departments in the United States, Federal Aviation Administration
Type	Unmanned aircraft program
Platform	Small unmanned aerial system
Purpose	Border surveillance, reconnaissance

Project 28 is a United States small unmanned aerial system program initiated in the late 2010s for enhanced aerial surveillance along national United States–Mexico border sectors and high-security venues. The initiative involved experimental deployments of fixed-wing remotely piloted aircraft fitted with electro-optical, infrared, and communications payloads by agencies including the United States Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and other federal partners. Coverage of the program intersected with debates involving civil liberties advocates, elected officials, and technology firms such as General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and AeroVironment.

Background

Project 28 emerged from earlier unmanned programs linked to the Homeland Security Act of 2002, follow-on strategies to the Secure Border Initiative, and demonstrations related to the Border Patrol Tactical Unit. Development drew on trials conducted under contracts with private firms including General Dynamics, Raytheon Technologies, and smaller defense contractors active in the San Diego and El Paso corridors. Political impetus came from legislators representing Arizona, Texas, and California districts with heavy cross-border traffic, and from executive initiatives under administrations that prioritized border technology. Public attention increased after media outlets in Arizona and New Mexico reported flights near Tucson and Las Cruces.

Objectives

Planners described Project 28 objectives as improving persistent aerial observation for interdiction of illicit trafficking across the United States–Mexico border and augmenting situational awareness for personnel from United States Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Secondary goals cited included testing sensor integration from vendors such as FLIR Systems, demonstrating beyond-line-of-sight command-and-control architectures used by Federal Aviation Administration waivers, and exploring interoperability with local law enforcement agencies like the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and municipal police departments in Yuma and El Paso. The program also aimed to validate data fusion techniques pioneered in collaboration with research centers at University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and New Mexico State University.

Design and Technology

Aircraft platforms used in demonstrations resembled long-endurance fixed-wing unmanned aerial systems produced by companies such as AeroVironment and General Atomics; the prototypes carried modular sensor suites from FLIR Systems, synthetic aperture radar elements similar to those developed by Northrop Grumman, and encrypted datalinks compatible with systems from L3Harris Technologies. Command-and-control employed ground control stations influenced by designs used by United States Air Force remotely piloted aircraft; communications routing interoperated with AT&T and Verizon tactical networks under test agreements. Avionics included autopilot systems derived from research at MIT Lincoln Laboratory and modal guidance inspired by experiments at NASA Ames Research Center. Integration efforts referenced standards promoted by RTCA, Inc. and testing protocols from National Institute of Standards and Technology laboratories.

Operations and Deployment

Trials occurred in restricted airspace sectors coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration and sometimes with state-level agencies in Arizona and New Mexico. Flights operated from staging areas near Davis–Monthan Air Force Base and municipal airports such as Tucson International Airport and involved mission planning tools used by Department of Homeland Security components. Operations sought to prove endurance profiles for night operations, sensor cueing for interdiction events, and data dissemination to tactical units including the United States Border Patrol Tactical Unit and local sheriffs’ offices. Some sorties coincided with coordinated activities involving the Drug Enforcement Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement task forces, and mission logs referenced coordination with regional fusion centers in Phoenix and Tucson.

Controversies and Criticism

Project 28 prompted scrutiny from civil liberties groups including American Civil Liberties Union chapters in Arizona and New Mexico, and from privacy advocates at organizations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Critics raised concerns about warrantless surveillance, scope creep into domestic law enforcement, and data retention policies, drawing parallels with controversies around programs referenced by USA PATRIOT Act debates and earlier National Security Agency surveillance disclosures. Local officials in Tucson and Santa Cruz County, Arizona questioned transparency and municipal oversight, and some media reports compared Project 28 deployments to historical aerial surveillance programs scrutinized during hearings by members of United States Congress committees such as the House Homeland Security Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee. Legal analysts cited case law from the United States Supreme Court on reasonable expectations of privacy to frame possible challenges.

Impact and Legacy

Although the program was limited in scope and duration, Project 28 influenced subsequent procurement and research priorities within Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other homeland security agencies, informing acquisitions from contractors like General Atomics and testing doctrines shared with United States Air Force unmanned programs. The demonstrations accelerated debates on regulatory frameworks overseen by the Federal Aviation Administration and contributed to policy discussions at think tanks including the RAND Corporation, Brookings Institution, and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Academics at institutions such as University of Texas at El Paso and Arizona State University used data from trials to study sensor fusion and civil-military coordination. The program’s legacy endures in legislative proposals and agency directives addressing domestic unmanned operations and privacy safeguards debated in United States Congress hearings into the late 2010s and early 2020s.

Category:Unmanned aerial vehicles of the United States