DHS Wants a Fleet of AI-Powered Surveillance Trucks

US Dept Homeland Security is looking to build a new mobile surveillance platform that fuses Artificial intelligenceRadar, high-powered cameras, and wireless networking in a single system, according to federal contract records reviewed by Wired. The technology will mount on 4×4 vehicles capable of reaching remote areas and transform into rolling, autonomous observation towers, extending the reach of border surveillance beyond its current fixed sites.

The proposed system emerged Friday after US Customs and Border Protection quietly released a proposal notice calling it a “modular mobile surveillance system,” or M2S2. The list includes draft technical documents, data requirements and design objectives.

DHS did not respond to requests for comment.

If the M2S2 works as described, Border Patrol agents can park their vehicles, raise a telescoping mast and begin detecting motion miles away within minutes. The system will rely heavily on so-called computer vision, a type of “artificial intelligence” that allows machines to interpret visual data frame by frame and identify shapes, heat signatures and movement patterns. Algorithms of this type were developed earlier for Use of combat drones—trained on millions if not thousands of images to distinguish between people, animals, and vehicles.

The development of M2S2 comes amid the Trump administration’s sweeping crackdown on undocumented immigrants across the United States. As part of this shock which has been sparked Massive protest and condemnation for Brutal tactics Used by immigration authorities,

Congress increased DHS’s discretionary budget authority by nearly $65 billion. The GOP’s “one big beautiful bill” allocates more than $160 billion for immigration enforcement and the border system—much of it directed to DHS—in which funding would be distributed over multiple years. The administration wants to increase DHS funding by nearly 65 percent, proposing the largest expansion in the agency’s history for new border enforcement, detention powers and immigration surveillance initiatives.

According to documents reviewed by WIRED, the system will mark the locations of targets within 250 feet of their actual location on a digital map (with a target stretch of about 50 feet) and transmit that data across. An app called TAK– A government-built tactical mapping platform developed by the US Department of Defense to help coordinate troop movements and avoid friendly fire.

DHS envisions two modes of operation: one with an agent on site, and another where the trucks sit mostly unattended. In the latter case, AI-powered vehicles will conduct surveillance and send alerts to remote operators when it detects activity. Missions must be logged to begin completion, video, map and sensor data must be retained for a minimum of 15 days, locked against deletion “under any circumstances”.