Al-Qaeda and its extremist allies now use the remote areas of the Pakistani frontier as a safe haven to hide, train terrorists, communicate with followers, plot attacks, and send fighters to support the insurgency across the border into Afghanistan.  This is how they are using this terrain. Therefore, Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and North West Frontier Provinces (NWFP) now provide Al-Qaeda many of the same benefits they once derived from bases in Afghanistan.

Rough, often impassable mountain terrain, with peaks between 8,000-13,000 feet high, make it difficult and dangerous to provide constant monitoring or make inroads into areas where insurgents conduct cross border operations through these lawless and porous border regions.  This is considered one of the core issues for NATO and Afghan National Army (ANA) operations.  However, the question remains as to what can be done to monitor and control the ingress and egress of insurgents in these cross border areas; which is one of the greatest contributions to regional destabilization.

To date, it has been beyond military force capabilities, on both sides of the border, to maintain control over the mountain border territories.  Perhaps the only solution available is to transfer border control over to a 21^st century technology solution, by using a surveillance detection technology plan.  

Anticipated enhancements to the current innovative technological achievements for border control along the U.S. Mexico border will not be available until 2013.

This technology is known as Secure Border Initiative Net (SBInet), which physically and electronically seals stretches of the desert to curb the flow of potential and actual crossers.  Most of the 2,000-mile border between Mexico and the U.S. is comprised of desert plains, steep ravines and hills that are difficult to cross.  Ground radar sensors will also attempt to detect footsteps, bicycles and vehicles.  But this system cannot be applied to the rough terrain of the Afghan-Pakistani border; plus, the applicability is totally dissimilar.  The threat circumstance is totally different than that coming from Mexico. 

Pakistan plans to provide its Air Force with an Australian surveillance aircraft that is the Oz version of the Scan Eagle pilot-less reconnaissance aircraft.  This tiny aircraft is fitted with cameras that can be used day and night and has proven successful when used by Australian troops inside Iraq and Afghanistan.

This could result in a serious complication if the Pakistani Air Force is to take responsibility of border control in favor of NATO; because Pakistan’s spy agency (ISI) has yet to prove it is not aligned with the Taliban. There is the probability that intelligence information along the border could be leaked to the insurgency to be used against the coalition.  However, the 1610 mile long Afghan-Pakistan border is hard to scout with this type of slow flying aircraft.   

So, what other alternative solution can be used as a practical tool for these high threat areas?

The answer is; a Surveillance Airship that was recently proposed by the U.S. Air Force.    

It is a giant unmanned dirigible that can remain aloft at high altitudes; keeping an unblinking watch on vehicles, planes and even people.

It is a giant airborne radar system capable of providing ground operators with intricate detail over vast expanses, even if it is hundreds of miles from its target.  It is a cross between a satellite and a (Global Hawk) spy plane.

This airship will fly at 65,000 feet, or 12 miles, beyond the range of any handheld missile, and is safe from most fighter planes.  At that height, it would be nearly impossible to see.

This airship would provide the military with a much better understanding of an adversary’s movements, habits and tactics.  With the ability to constantly monitor small movements in a wide area like the Afghan-Pakistan border, it will dramatically improve military intelligence.  Its constant surveillance is uninterrupted, which provides the ability to observe over a long period of time, resulting in an understanding of how an adversary operates.

This airship will be filled with helium and powered by an innovative system that uses solar panels to recharge hydrogen fuel cells. The final version of the airship will be about 450 feet long.

In conclusion, history cannot be taken carelessly; we must remember that this landscape is the graveyard of empires, where for thousands of years no major army has won in this inhospitable territory.  Therefore, the best and the most sophisticated technology could be part of the solution for stability in the region.