Trump’s border wall prototypes pass muster with US Special Forces
The rigorous tests provided data on the cost effectiveness of the materials of construction and which terrain would be the best match for the design.
We have been following the construction and testing of the border wall prototypes that have been raised along the Mexico/US border in the San Diego area.
The test phase conducted by teams of US Special forces has concluded, and it appears that the wall samples passed muster.
Recent assaults by tactical teams on prototypes of President Trump’s proposed wall with Mexico indicate their imposing heights should stop border crossers, a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the rigorous assessment told the Associated Press.
Military special forces based in Florida and U.S. Customs and Border Protection special units spent three weeks trying to breach and scale the eight models in San Diego, using jackhammers, saws, torches and other tools and climbing devices, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was not authorized for public release.….The report recommends combining elements of each, depending on the terrain. The official likened it to a Lego design, pulling pieces from different prototypes.
It appears that height was the main deterrent.
Each model was to be 18 to 30 feet (5 to 9 meters) high, and contractors built at or near the maximum, which is roughly twice as high as many existing barriers. Ronald Vitiello, the agency’s acting deputy commissioner, said after visiting the prototypes in October that he was struck most by their height.
The highly trained testers scaled 16 to 20 feet (5 to 6 meters) unassisted but needed help after that, said the official, who described the assaults on the wall prototypes to the AP. Testers also expressed safety concerns about getting down from 30 feet.
Only once did a tester manage to land a hook on top of the wall without help, the official said. Tubes atop some models repelled climbing devices but wouldn’t work in more mountainous areas because the terrain is too jagged.The findings appear to challenge what Janet Napolitano, now chancellor of the University of California, often said when she was President Barack Obama’s homeland security secretary: “You show me a 50-foot wall, and I’ll show you a 51-foot ladder.”
The tests also provided data on the effectiveness of different materials, and how each type could be utilized for different types of terrains.
Some design elements might work well in certain areas of the country while not being feasible or effective in other areas. Tubes affixed to the top of one prototype, for example, provided an effective deterrent against climbing tools, but could not be used in mountainous terrain.
As for the material used for the design, testing indicated that concrete-topped steel is most effective and durable. Exposed steel near the ground allows authorities to see through the wall while smooth concrete further up impedes climbers, the source told the AP.
In addition to increased visibility, a steel design is also reportedly recommended in the military report because it is simpler and less costly to replace should any portion of the wall be breached.
Here’s to hoping there is an “unconditional surrender” by the Democrats, which includes funding for the actual border wall.
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
If we include the solar panels on it maybe we can get a California green energy tax credit.
Build it Mr President
Integrate a low friction carbon coating, and Mexico et al will have no choice but to implement emigration reform in order to promote the general Welfare.
Go ahead. Try to build a taller ladder. We’ll wait….
One ladder just gets you to the top, you still need to get down the other side.
A dozen and a half illegals carrying a ladder that big across a field are fairly easy to spot. However it will happen and they will lower themselves down to the other side with ropes. Some will succeed but many more will fail and many more than that will not even try. Let us not forget the buzzers and bells of all the technology. The radio ground sensors that are moved constantly and alert border patrols along with the drones cameras, etc.
The most import part are the reforms that will stop the catch and release so we can finally get to catch, arrest, detain/arrest/prosecute and deport. We also have to eliminate the sanctuary cities and the prosecution of the employers of illegal immigrants and those that are involved in immigration fraud and trafficking.
The administration is insisting on much more than a wall.
If it’s patrolled often, it can stop those who want to cross it. If it isn’t patrolled, then it will always be easy to get over. A wall is only as effective as the border guard patrolling it.
A 30′ wall is pretty effective even without a guard standing on the other side. Bur, in the 21st century, monitoring the wall is much easier than it was in the past.
Today, the integrity of the wall, including attempts to breach it or tunnel under it, can be remotely monitored with a high rate of confidence. Aerial surveillance can be conducted relatively easily using both manned and unmanned aircraft. Aerial incursion is another matter, but is not all that difficult to monitor. The challenge comes in the form of response to alarms. A rapid deployment force has to be in place and ready to respond and counter an incursion, or attempted incursion, very quickly. This will likely require significant air assets for transport and insertion as well as a highly trained, heavily armed troop element.
The wall is not meant to stop all incursion attempts, only some of them. And, it should slow down those it can’t stop, long enough for units to respond and contain any breach.
So, wall good. No wall, bad.
And the prevention/detection of tunnels. That is what they’ve done for decades, to avoid getting caught.
So, tunnel prevention/detection is key, as well as patrolling. They actually have a detailed plan on that, I’ve heard, involving drone surveillance, not just manpower.
My actual main concern is that those building the wall will be victims of the Mexican cartels, or those who are in the U.S. as sharpshooters to pick off CBP agents – which happens NOW.
They will need mega-protection to accomplish it, but it can and will be done. Finally!
“Here’s to hoping there is an “unconditional surrender” by the Democrats, which includes funding for the actual border wall.”
Democrats won’t surrender on this issue because their party’s future depends upon it. They are using the same playbook as European socialists did to change their demographics.
Waiting for your opponent to surrender is not a viable strategy.
Uh, hello…… Sieges were ALL about “waiting for your enemy to surrender.”
History must not be your strong suit. Nor is “playing chicken.”
No more feeding the troll……..
In a siege, you have your enemy surrounded. I don’t see the analog in this case.
Plus, even in a Siege you didn’t stand around and wait for your enemy to surrender. You did things to help him along.
Isn’t this wall-building in the category of the Pareto 80-20 principle? Getting a 51-foot ladder is possible, so that some, a really, really small number, could get over the wall, but with enormous effort. But look at the large number that will be prevented and the even larger number of those deterred from even trying.
Israel used this thinking when it built its West Bank Barrier, and now with its Gaza protection walls.
ALL security works that way. The whole basis of security is that the subset of people that want the thing being secured AND have the capability to get it is made as small as reasonably possible.
My questions revolve around the wall being able to withstand the elements. Would be regarding wind. Will such high walls hold up in heavy winds? And is there any type of support – it is at least partly on major fault lines, can walls withstand any seismic activity? Also, it will go across many terrains, as you mention, including mountains. But – what about heat? Desert heat? And cold?
I think a high wall with slick/low friction coating is great, as long as it can withstand the elements.
Build.The.Wall. And NO SURRENDER from you, Republicans – make the DEMOCRATS do it, for once!
(Trump is a king at playing “chicken” – but we know McConnell is just dying to cut a deal with his buddy Chucky Schumer…..)
I have no questions like yours. I work in heavy highway construction. You can be assured that the materials used and structure of the wall will meet the specs to withstand any ‘acts of God” you describe.
Make sure the concrete surface is rough and uneven, or else, this:
http://www.newsweek.com/how-climb-building-suction-cups-stephen-rogata-492584
“Good fences make good neighbors”
Funding for the wall has been in the budget for decades, where has it gone?
Actually, Congress has never appropriated money for the wall. All they have done is authorize any spending that can be squeezed from other areas.
I’ve grown tired of the “wall is useless without monitors” talking points, even though I agree with the general sentiment, and even when it’s offered in good faith. A few points:
1) it’s a talking point that belongs to Democrats. We need to stop feeding into it.
2) when they say it it’s intended to whitewash the need for a wall in the first place they want something less permanent like a fence or nothing… but hey lots of patrols right? No not when the funding gets cut or LEOs ordered to stand down It’s a trap.
3) a physical wall is a permanent or at least semi permanent barrier that will outlast Trump. That’s key here because Obama Mark 3 or Hillary Mark II will reverse any games on the border that we make that are possible to be reversed. It’s very easy to tear down a fence. It’s very easy to cut personnel and funding. It’s very easy to yank patrols off the line or otder INS to stand down and look the other way.
But a 30 ft concrete/metal wall is permanent and not easily torn down. And even if it’s not maintained or patrolled it still prevents illegals from crossing, and even redirects them two more easier Avenues where we can focus our lessoned Patrol agents.
4) if Obama Mk3 orders all agents Off the Wall all Patrol ceased all funding stopped, States like Texas can easily step in call up the National Guard and man the wall. But they just can’t build it on their own that’s why it needs to be put in place.
I’d also like to hear from some firefighters about using 30 foot ladders. Ashley more than that because I’m assuming am I geometry lessons if the walls 30 feet the ladder needs to be 40 to 50 feet at least.
I don’t see a lot of good Lumber materials out in the desert for building a 40 foot ladder.
Are the coyotes going to transport them on top of their trucks for everyone to see? Or are they going to steal them in the space usually reserved for the illegals?
What kind of materials are these homemade ladders going to be fashioned from? How are they going to fair in high heat and high winds? What happens when one at legal jumps on before another is jumped off?
See I’m betting that climbing a 40 foot ladder is a bit more complicated and involved than most of us assume. And might even require some experienced training.
I’ll happily stand corrected if any firefighters out there want to clue us in.
I admit to making an assumption here ….
After having an extension ladder go sideways on me once …
( No, the landing was not gentle. )
…. a single person attempting this by themselves will NOT work.
Jumping from 30 feet up, not a good idea either.
In only a few hours with a very small crew and one generator, I could drill and blast a very large hole in any of these prototypes with commercial explosives. Sorry…
Suuureee you could. Almost as easily as you could leap over it.
Yep. I sure could.
You initiate the first charge in the center, and then you time all the others to go off sequentially to exploit the void left by the prior ones.
You’ve never handled explosives, I see. Or reality…
Oh, and guys, I used to hump 80# rolls of modified bitumen up to the roof of three-story buildings as a roofing contractor.
Look up Ladder-Vator, which I very soon purchased.
See also cranes; conveyor trucks, etc.
One, I don’t believe you, you’re a known liar here
Two, you are granting too much for Logistics. Go ahead grab your explosive Steam and your ladder Vader and drive toward the border, we will order pizza while we wait for satellites to give us your 8 digit grid position.
“Yellow Truck at 66060998 you say? Fire for effect.”
Maybe we should test the wall with him, doing this (jump to 02:15):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKf7Zre1djE
Maybe you should deal with reality, instead of this transparent bullshit publicity stunt by the administration.
I mean, please…
President Donald Trump’s Accomplishment List:
http://www.magapill.com/
I think that list leaves off paying porn “stars” to lie about his adultery, and lying (like any Clinton) to the American people.
But is still has shit to do with this topic.
Rags wishes he could prove that….
Der Donald already did.
Fen, who gives a good shit what a liar like you believes?
What is modified bitumen? How do I know what it is?
How do I know that a roll of it weighs 80#?
Can a person carry a roll of modified bitumen up a ladder to place it on the roof of a three-story building?
How do I know what a Ladder-Vator is? Did you know before tonight?
The basic Ladder-Vator can be added to in sections of various length. Look it up, you flucking moron.
You left out the death rays from the fully operational Death Star in you stupid fantasy.
Every been to the border?
15 minutes with Google. Any of us could do it in five, but we don’t ride the short bus.
Well, two things, lying SOS…
1. you didn’t, and
2. you can’t counter any element of it.
It’s all true.
You can’t even FIND the “short bus”.
I support building the wall. They work, ask the Israeli’s.
They are not perfect.
Yeh, you’re an idiot. Compare a few mile to hundreds. And compare populated areas to vast stretches of nothing.
Typical T-rump sucking delusionist.
You are what you’ve always been, a deranged lunatic. Worse, your a deranged prog lunatic, always on the side of the enemy.
The Israeli wall is a “few miles”? I guess if a few is now hundreds of miles, nearly 500.
And it works. So will ours.
Typical Trump deranged sucking delusionist.
440 miles, liar, and it’s almost all a fence system. Poor stupid thing.
I’ve been advocating a barrier since Der Donald was contributing money to Schumer and Pelosi. Jonah Goldberg was on this when Mr. Establishment was advocating for single-payer health care.