Report: US Border Drones Aren't as Cheap or Effective as Promised

You know those ​Predator drones the US is flying along the Mexican and Canadian borders each day? Not only do they cost way more than estimated per flight – it's hard to say whether they're even doing their job.

A new report released by the Department of Homeland Se​curity's Inspector General John Roth on Tuesday slammed the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Unmanned Aircraft System program on multiple fronts, questioning both the "effectiveness and cost" of the program, and plans to purchase another 14 drones for future use.

CBP has already spent $360 million since 2005 on its existing fleet and related equipment, as well as personnel, maintenance and support.

Rather, Inspector Roth recommended the border agency conduct an independent study to determine whether existing aircraft are being used effectively enough to justify purchasing more, and whether that funding might be better invested in alternative measures "such as manned aircraft and ground assets" instead.

CBP is responsible for patrolling 7,000 miles of US land border using a variety of aerial and ground based vehicles. Since 2004, this fleet has included an increasing number of Predator B Unmanned Aircraft—a total of 10 at the time the report was written.

Rather than choose where and when to operate the unmanned aircraft itself, an unnamed CBP official who operates Predator drones as part of the program and spoke with Motherboard last year, described CBP as operating in more of a "support agency" capacity.

"We don't say we're going to check out your house today," the official said. "When some agency wants something, they put in a request for it. As long as the request is validated, we'll go out and do that mission."

Those missions might include tracking the movement of drugs across the border, or watching for changes along common border crossing routes—a broken fence here, or tire tracks there. The agencies requesting such assistance can include US Border Patrol agents, of course, but also other local, federal and international agencies.

That's all well and good, assuming the program were actually performing as promised. The problem is, it's not—according to the report's audit, anyhow. For example, the report found that each Predator costs far more to operate than previously believed, and as a result, aren't flying nearly as much as promised.

"We estimate that, in fiscal year 2013, it cost at least $62.5 million to operate the program, or about $12,255 per hour," Inspector Roth wrote. "The Office of Air and Marine's calculation of $2,468 per flight hour does not include operating costs, such as the costs of pilots, equipment, and overhead."

Meanwhile, The Office of Air and Marine (OAM) set a goal of having Predators in the sky 16 hours a day, every day of the year. Instead, the aircraft were airborne only 22 percent of the time in fiscal year 2013—a total of just 5,102 hours.

"According to OAM, the aircraft did not fly more primarily because of budget constraints, which prevented OAM from obtaining the personnel, spare parts and other infrastructure for operations, and maintenance necessary for more flight hours," the report reads.

But most damning were the report's performance findings—or, rather, the discovery that CBP wasn't measuring performance at all. As a result, it was impossible to determine whether almost a decade's worth of Predator flights along the border have "increased apprehensions of illegal border crossers," reduced costs, and improved efficiency in any appreciable way.

In other words, it's still not clear how effective Predator drones have been at deterring and catching illegal immigrants from entering the country, which is the whole reason why the program even exists. Nevertheless, the long-term plan is to add another 14 unmanned aircraft—and the OAM plans to spend another $443-million to acquire, support and maintain the additional drones. Assuming, of course, this report doesn't change the agency's mind.

With additional reporting by Jason Koebler.