RVSS Contract Award for Advanced Border Surveillance and Detection Systems Supporting Operational Dominance

The project delivers the next generation of EO/IR technology for fully autonomous systems on the Remote Video Surveillance System (RVSS) network of systems operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) — a vital part of America’s ongoing effort to secure the border and achieve operational control.

Supporting CBP’s Border Protection Mission to Safeguard the Nation

This contract award is one of several new task orders under Clear Align’s $95 million Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, designed to modernize border surveillance systems with AI-enabled detection, imaging, and control capabilities. The upgrades directly support CBP’s mission to protect the American people, enhance homeland security, and prevent potential threats through advanced reconnaissance and surveillance technologies.

Clear Align’s thermal infrared cameras replace legacy systems with high-definition thermal imagers that deliver superior range, accuracy, and image quality. The new high-definition thermal cameras are critical for autonomous systems, improving detection, tracking, and classification performance. While we support the operational requirements for traditional methods of surveillance, we also provide the advanced AI enabled solutions to work better.

These thermal cameras double the number of pixels on target, at real time frame rates, capturing clearer thermal images with higher resolution. This enables the accuracy and reliability of data analysis and threat detection at significantly less cost than new systems.

“This award represents an important milestone in our partnership with CBP,” said Angelique X. Irvin, Chair and CEO of Clear Align. “Our thermal cameras and Autonomous Surveillance Systems give agents the power to detect and classify potential threats faster and more accurately. These advanced thermal infrared sensors are the backbone of next-generation border surveillance — enhancing range, image resolution, and situational awareness to help secure our borders by supporting personnel and allowing them to focus on higher-level decision-making.”

Next-Generation High-Definition Systems for Persistent ISR

The surveillance systems deliver persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities to improve border situational awareness in real time. Designed for continuous monitoring, they deploy advanced technology for persistent ISR, combining thermal imaging, video processing, that optimize the performance of AI-enables threat assessment and help operators understand the dynamic threat situations as they evolve. This technology enables external systems like autonomous drones be more effective —these machines work together to enhance surveillance capabilities—conduct surveillance with greater efficiency and accuracy.

These thermal cameras use a modular open system approach (MOSA) and can integrate with both legacy systems as well as new technologies that support open-architecture interfaces for control and streaming data. Clear Align also has other improvements including advanced pan tilt units (PTU) with processing at the edge, allowing future sensor fusion, data streaming, and reconnaissance network integration. These cameras have demonstrated performance over the entire temperature range on the border, from high temperature range performance to freezing conditions. They are designed for reliability and maintainability and are engineered for the harsh conditions along the southern U.S. border — from desert heat to dust storms and low-light operations.

Built in America for Homeland Security

All engineering, fabrication, and qualification take place within Clear Align’s U.S. facilities, supporting government programs that depend on American-made EO/IR systems for homeland security and defense applications. The company’s vertically integrated manufacturing ensures quality, supply chain resilience, mechanical interchangeability, and rapid preventive maintenance for sustained mission performance.

The latest generation of cameras have the ability to detect and identify at longer ranges, have been developed with autofocus and are equipped with advanced image processing features providing better quality data at higher frame rates to detect fast moving targets.

These enhancements shorten the speed of acquisition providing critical data on the object of interest for auto detection or to agents directly. Backward compatibility with legacy assets and continued development, incorporating the latest technological research advancements ensures essential and affordable capability improvements are delivered through physical hardware and remote software upgrades.

Achieving Operational Dominance through Autonomous C5ISR Platforms

This program reinforces Clear Align’s leadership in autonomous C5ISR platforms — modular, open-architecture systems that integrate command, control, communications, computers, combat systems, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance into a single adaptive decision network.

Unlike traditional imaging suppliers, Clear Align operates as a defense-technology platform company, fusing AI-enabled EO/IR sensors, radar, and data-driven analytics into connected systems that learn, scale, and evolve. The improved range, resolution, and image accuracy improve the performance of AI enabled automation to conduct continuous surveillance across vast areas.

By redefining hardware as part of a connected C5ISR ecosystem, Clear Align’s approach delivers more than sensors—it creates an intelligent network that enhances situational awareness, drives operational efficiency, and ensures that U.S. border and defense missions maintain decision superiority and operational dominance in every environment.