COSTA MESA, California, — June 13, 2026 : Defense technology company Anduril Industries has secured a $363 million contract from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to supply more than 200 Extended Range Sentry Towers (XRST) as part of efforts to expand the agency’s autonomous border surveillance network along the U.S. Southwest Border.
The contract marks a significant expansion of CBP’s border monitoring capabilities and builds on a partnership between Anduril and the agency that has spanned more than seven years. The new XRST systems are designed to enhance situational awareness for Border Patrol agents by providing long-range autonomous surveillance across broad and complex terrain.
Under the agreement, Anduril will deploy more than 200 of its 80-foot-tall Extended Range Sentry Towers. The systems are equipped with advanced electro-optical cameras, thermal imaging sensors, radar systems, and communications equipment capable of operating continuously in remote border environments.
According to the company, the towers can autonomously detect, classify, and track objects of interest at ranges exceeding 5 miles, with some configurations capable of monitoring targets at distances of up to 12 kilometers. Information collected by the sensors is processed through Anduril’s proprietary Lattice software platform, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze data, identify potential threats, and automatically alert CBP personnel.
The AI-enabled platform is designed to reduce the need for agents to continuously monitor video feeds by filtering large volumes of sensor data and highlighting relevant activities requiring attention. This allows personnel to focus on response and operational decision-making rather than manual surveillance tasks.
Layered Surveillance Network
The newly contracted XRST systems will operate alongside Anduril’s existing Standard Range Sentry Towers to create a layered surveillance network across the southern border.
Anduril stated that the combination of Extended Range and Standard Range towers provides persistent and comprehensive coverage across diverse border environments. The extended-range towers significantly increase monitoring capability compared to standard models, which typically detect and track persons at approximately 2.8 kilometers and vehicles at around 3.5 kilometers.
The larger XRST systems are designed to cover wider areas, potentially reducing the number of towers required to monitor extensive stretches of terrain. Like previous Sentry Tower variants, the new systems are solar-powered, require limited infrastructure, and can be rapidly deployed in remote locations.
Existing Border Operations
Anduril has already delivered and sustained more than 350 Standard Range Sentry Towers deployed along the U.S. southern border. According to the company, these systems currently provide surveillance coverage for approximately 30 percent of the southern land border and have autonomously identified hundreds of thousands of border crossings.
The towers operate continuously during both day and night, transmitting relevant alerts and tracking information to Border Patrol agents for further assessment and action.
Program Development
The Sentry Tower program began in 2018 when Anduril introduced its autonomous surveillance technology to CBP through the Autonomous Surveillance Tower (AST) pilot initiative. The program expanded across additional border regions in 2019 and was formally designated as a CBP program of record in 2020.
In November 2024, the Extended Range Sentry Tower successfully completed CBP acceptance testing. Following the evaluation, Anduril assigned additional software engineering resources to further improve long-range autonomous tracking capabilities based on operational requirements and feedback from Border Patrol agents.
The newly awarded contract is structured as a one-year Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III effort and supports the continued expansion of autonomous surveillance technologies intended to improve border situational awareness while reducing operational risks for personnel in the field.
With the addition of more than 200 Extended Range Sentry Towers, CBP is expected to significantly expand the reach of its autonomous surveillance network, enhancing long-range monitoring capabilities across key sections of the Southwest Border.
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