Border protection: smart fence, not stupid fence, says Chertoff.

High-tech cameras, sensors and possibly satellites will be used to tighten the southern border with Mexico, not a concrete and steel wall, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said at a news conference.

An impenetrable wall or fence spanning the entire border, a concept some lawmakers have proposed, is not practical or affordable, Chertoff said. "We're going to have a virtual fence ... It's going to be a smart fence, not a stupid fence--a 21st century fence, not a 19th century fence," Chertoff said.

The secretary offered few details concerning DHS' concepts for using satellite technologies, other than to say they might be used "to get greater visibility about what's going on on the border."

A newly formed secure border initiative program office is contemplating procedures to develop new technologies. It will look at "where we need to implement new technology, where we can improve upon what's existing, and what areas we just need to think outside the box," said DHS spokesman Jarrod Agen, who added there were few details on what kind of space-based applications would be proposed.

Matthew Farr, homeland security analyst for the consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, said throwing the satellite concept out there during the press conference was probably "for public consumption." Given that remote-sensing satellites cannot deliver the real-time, streaming video that an unmanned aerial vehicle can, it's difficult to know what Chertoff is thinking, Farr said. "They could be used to determine staging areas and high-traffic routes," he added.

Less than a week after the Bush Administration's border initiative announcement, NASA signed a memorandum of understanding with DHS to "aggressively apply joint expertise and technologies to improve national and homeland security."

NASA spokesman Dave Steitz said the agency's engineers have a lot to offer DHS. Possible areas of cooperation include aeronautics security, disaster assessment through its remote-sensing satellites and communications. Geospatial imaging for disaster assessment and mitigation are more likely space-based applications for DHS, he said.

"We don't do surveillance, per se," Steitz noted.

Meanwhile, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has reported some success with its lone UAV, currently in operation near Tucson, Ariz. David Aguilar, Border Patrol chief, said the UAV has assisted in apprehending more than 1,000 illegal border crossers and interdicting 400 pounds of narcotics since the beginning of the 2005 fiscal year.

Tightening border security with such technologies will be expensive, Farr said. His firm is predicting the U.S. federal border security market to increase from $5.9 billion in 2004 to $8.1 billion by 2011.