Ukraine's military, which is monitoring its volatile eastern border, will soon receive new radar technology upgrades after signing a deal with a U.S. company. Nathan Frandino reports.
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A new U.S.-Ukraine venture is coming to Ukraine's volatile eastern border. This camera is part of the Elevated Early Warning Systems... a blend of radar and imaging technologies made by U.S. firm Aeroscraft, which aims to improve border monitoring capabilities. Two stationary towers like this one will be installed by the end of the year at the Ukraine-Russia border, where a conflict between Kiev and pro-Russian rebels has killed nearly 8,000 people. The Honorable Oleg Gladkovskiy is with the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FIRST DEPUTY SECRETARY OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY AND DEFENSE COUNCIL OF UKRAINE, HON. OLEG GLADKOVSKIY, SAYING: "We signed an agreement with AEROS to supply equipment which give us possibility to protect our border. It's very important in such dramatic time for Ukraine." Gladkovskiy and others visited on Friday the Aeroscraft facilities in California, where they were shown demonstrations of the technology. Aeronautical engineer John Wertz explains how the technology works. (SOUNDBITE) (English) AEROSCRAFT AERONAUTICAL ENGINEER, JOHN WERTZ, SAYING: "The software that we're using allows the data from the radar and from the camera to come into one workstation and really allow the operator to get an idea of what's going on in the area, not just where there are objects of interest but what those objects are and what they're doing in relation to each other." Six more towers equipped with the systems are planned to be added next year.