Boeing's Project 28 high-tech border suffering delays

Boeing stumbled out of the gate as it rushed to work on the first phase of the large SBInet contract. Now, more than two months behind schedule, the company has changed the management of this electronic-surveillance project along the U.S.-Mexican border. The project is an important link in DHS’s plan to use technology to monitor the borders for illegal immigrants, drug smugglers, and terrorists. Tall towers set up along a stretch of the border near Nogales, Arizona, are supposed to use motion sensors, cameras, and radar to keep track of wide swathes of land. Boeing has had trouble getting the different components to work together without glitches. This is troublesome, becasue, as the WSJ’s August Cole writes, the government’s plans for monitoring as much as 6,000 miles of the Canadian and Mexican borders hinge on towers such as these working properly. If the watch tower system proves ineffective, the government may be forced into spending billions of dollars for more traditional security measures, such as fences and personnel. DHS currently estimates that the virtual fence will cost about $8 billion through 2013, although the agency’s inspector general wrote last November that the cost could balloon to $30 billion. Boeing recently named Daniel Korte, a veteran executive in the company’s Integrated Defense Systems unit, to head the SBInet program. Korte was previously vice president of supplier management and procurement for the defense unit and has also worked on the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. Boeing said the changes in management was part of a planned transition of the SBInet program to the network and space-systems group from its previous home in the advanced-systems group, which handles competitions and project development. The network and space-systems group oversees key programs, such as Future Combat Systems, which is supposed to use high-tech vehicles, communications and sensors to tie together all parts of the battlefield.

Boeing won the SBInet contract over some impressive rivals by billing itself as the low-risk solution for the government. Most of the components for the towers are already available and used commercially and by other governments. Boeing also made on-time delivery of government programs a top priority. The nine movable 98-foot towers, as well as vehicles, sensors, communications gear, computers, and command centers, were supposed to be turned over to the government on 13 June. Boeing is under a $20-million fixed-price contract to deliver the first part of the system, known as Project 28. As a result, the company is responsible for cost overruns due to delays. The company also got a $44 million management fee from the government as part of the contract.

Cole writes that within the government there has been concern that SBInet will prove unwieldy for DHS contract managers. “Prior to the award of the SBInet contract, the department did not lay the foundation to oversee and assess contractor performance, and control costs and schedule of this major investment,” said Richard Skinner, inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, during testimony before lawmakers last month.