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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim McMannis who wrote (302852)	9/11/2006 6:37:42 PM
From: Road Walker	Respond to of 1578423

re: Do you think that's good for the country? Probably not. But in the long term it may be. I guess I know what you think.

To: Jim McMannis who wrote (302852)	9/24/2006 12:13:10 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1578423

Border work smart move for Boeing, analysts say By Peter Pae Los Angeles Times From their Huntington Beach, Calif., facility, Boeing engineers crafted a plan to line the Mexican border with 1,800 towers equipped with sensors that can determine when illegal immigrants step onto U.S. soil. Infrared cameras will detect the body heat of intruders, and radar will track vehicles used to smuggle immigrants and drugs into the United States. Thursday, Boeing's plan won a key contract, one that could lead to a "virtual fence" along 7,500 miles of the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada. Department of Homeland Security officials said the initial three-year contract was worth $67 million and called for Boeing to build its tower-based system along a 28-mile stretch of the border near Tucson, Ariz. But analysts said the project could be expanded and total more than $2.5 billion. Boeing beat out three of the nation's largest defense corporations and a Swedish cellphone maker for the contract, part of a larger homeland-security initiative to stem the flow of illegal immigrants into the country. When the project is completed, Boeing said, its towers would leave little of the now-porous borders undetected, creating a high-tech fence longer than the Great Wall of China. "What we are looking to build is a 21st-century virtual fence," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff at a news conference announcing the contract. The contract represents a much-needed win for Boeing, which in the last year has suffered several setbacks. It lost a bid to Lockheed Martin to build the next-generation space capsule for NASA. A chunk of a multibillion-dollar spy-satellite program was taken away by the federal government because of cost overruns. "This is huge for Boeing," said Matthew Farr, senior homeland-security analyst for technology consulting firm Frost & Sullivan. "They should be extremely happy." The contract isn't without controversy. Some members of Congress have called it a waste of money, noting that two other unsuccessful efforts to control the Mexico border with high-tech equipment have cost taxpayers more than $500 million. Federal officials declined to say how much the full-scale system would ultimately cost. But analysts said that eventually the security initiative could be worth more than $8 billion as the U.S. looks to expand the project to secure the East and West coastlines. The contract became a priority for defense companies as the Pentagon began looking at curtailing spending amid the rising costs of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. To make up for the slowdown, contractors have been focused on winning nontraditional defense work, such as border security, large-scale facilities management and maritime surveillance. After growing by more than 10 percent annually since the Sept. 11 attacks, defense spending could see its growth slow to 3 to 5 percent, some analysts estimate. "As the availability of money for weapon systems begins to decline, the companies are looking for ways to apply their skills in nonmilitary fields," said Loren Thompson, a defense-policy analyst at the Lexington Institute, an Arlington, Va.-based think tank. Defense companies see a need for border security by other nations trying to keep out illegal immigrants. "There is a large global market for border security," said Wayne Esser, Boeing's "capture team leader" for the contract, said before the award was announced. "The winner of this is going to be well-positioned for that market," he said. Boeing believed the contract was so important that in August, James Albaugh, head of Boeing's $30 billion defense business, gave the oral presentation himself to Homeland Security officials. Boeing's toughest competition came from Lockheed, the nation's largest defense contractor, and Northrop Grumman. All three have experience in developing and managing large complex military weapon systems. The companies suggested using an array of sensors to monitor and detect border crossings, but had different proposals on how they would be used. In the end, Boeing was triumphant. "You can see anything from anywhere in the system," Esser said. "This is pretty unprecedented in terms of the magnitude." seattletimes.nwsource.com