New capability delivers persistent AI-enabled surveillance to help border agents detect illegal activity across remote and challenging terrain
FALLS CHURCH, Va. – General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD), today unveiled new autonomous surveillance towers designed to strengthen border security and improve the detection of illegal activity across vast and remote areas. GDIT is now one of the few companies in the country to provide autonomous surveillance capabilities that leverage artificial intelligence for border security missions.
Built with commercial technology, the autonomous surveillance towers employ edge AI/machine learning, patented video analytics and advanced 5G and satellite communication capabilities to detect, identify, classify and track items of interest in real time. Unlike traditional surveillance systems that require constant operator oversight, the towers autonomously monitor their environment over a long range, prioritize alerts and deliver actionable intelligence in real time. This reduces operator workloads, accelerates decision-making, enhances situational awareness and safety, and allows border personnel to focus on critical field operations.
Ready for rapid deployment and scalability, these towers can also be configured for a range of operational environments, including remote areas with limited infrastructure. The towers are designed to be future proof and enabled for Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-UAS) and other integrations as border threats evolve.
“Our investment in these autonomous towers reflects our continued commitment to innovate and apply technology in ways that directly support federal government priorities,” said Michael Wagner, GDIT’s vice president of Biometrics, Border & Transportation Security. “We’re ready to rapidly deploy new autonomous towers at scale to continue strengthening U.S. border security.”
For more than a decade, GDIT has helped secure the nation’s borders with remote video surveillance. The company has designed and deployed more than 200 first-generation towers covering more than 550 miles of the U.S. border. The unveiling of the new autonomous towers also reinforces the company’s broader Vision, Innovation and Acceleration (VIA) strategy launched recently, which emphasizes developing advanced capabilities for border security as a key market.
GDIT is a business unit of General Dynamics, a global aerospace and defense company that offers a broad portfolio of products and services in business aviation; ship construction and repair; land combat vehicles, weapons systems and munitions; and technology products and services. General Dynamics employs more than 110,000 people worldwide and generated $52.6 billion in revenue in 2025. More information about General Dynamics Information Technology is available at www.gdit.com. More information about General Dynamics is available at www.gd.com.
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Oliver Nutt
Oliver.Nutt@gdit.com