In a new push to regain control of the border, the Department of Homeland Security expects soon to issue a request for proposals for next-generation technologies to prevent illegal border crossings, according to DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff.

"We do expect in short order to be soliciting for proposals to build an integrated next-generation technology system," Chertoff told reporters at a briefing in Washington Dec. 1.

DHS already has set up a program office to put out RFPs in support of the Secure Border Initiative (SBI) program to catch and return home anyone caught illegally crossing the border. Those RFPs, Chertoff said, would address "an integrated package to deal with all of our issues at the border."

DHS has said it expects to award contracts for SBI technologies in fiscal 2006 with deployment in fiscal 2007.

Currently, Chertoff said, DHS has "miles of sensors" as well as video cameras and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to help Border Patrol agents. The hope now is for next-generation technology.

"There are more advanced sensors. We want to get those integrated into a package with the remote cameras. We want to have that integrated with what we do in terms of aerial surveillance. We want to look at the possibility of satellite technology as enhancing our ability to get greater visibility ... on the border," Chertoff said.

Launched last month, SBI is a five-year program to deploy more personnel, new technologies and improved infrastructure on both the northern and southern borders. It would greatly expand the $2 billion America's Shield Initiative to deploy a vast array of sensors along U.S. borders and coastlines.

Some of the technologies now used by the Defense Department may be useful for SBI, Chertoff added.

"Some of the benefits of their technology in training can be a real support for us. So, we look forward to working with Department of Defense, as well as with our own fine assets, in achieving what is a difficult but achievable result, which is control of the border," he said.

So far, high-tech has proved a boon for the Border Patrol, according to Border Patrol chief David Aguilar. The Predator UAV flights over the Tucson, Ariz., region, for example, have been so successful that DHS is now working with the FAA to expand flight operations to other parts of the Arizona border.

Since Oct. 1, Aguilar said, the UAV has been involved in interdicting more than 1,000 illegal aliens and more than 400 pounds of narcotics in the Tucson area.