U.S. Custom and Border Protection (CBP) wants to expand its drone surveillance program by 14 drones that would cost a whopping $443 million, but a recent audit by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General reveals that the drones have been a waste of money, and that their effectiveness has been grossly overestimated.
The Office of Air and Marine calculates that it costs $2,468 per flight hour to operate a drone, but the audit puts that number closer to about $12,255, when operating costs are included. Furthermore, the drones monitored an area 80 percent less extensive than what CBP predicted, and were all but useless on the roughly 200 miles they surveyed; the drones were credited with apprehending less than two percent of illegal immigrants.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
How much of a blow is ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu?Today's Big Question Action by Hague court damages Israel's narrative that Gaza conflict is a war between 'good and evil'
-
UK gynaecological care crisis: why thousands of women are left in painThe Explainer Waiting times have tripled over the past decade thanks to lack of prioritisation or funding for women's health
-
'The Hum': the real-life noise behind The ListenersIn The Spotlight Can some of us also hear the disturbing sound that plagues characters in the hit TV show – and where is it coming from?
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
