Drone prepares for border patrol

FARGO, N.D.—After two failed tries, an unmanned aircraft expected to be the first to patrol the northern U.S. border has completed a flight from Arizona to North Dakota.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said the Predator B drone touched down at the Grand Forks Air Force Base after a six-hour flight from Libby Army Airfield in Sierra Vista, Ariz.

The drone is scheduled to begin patrolling the Canada-U.S. border in January. Its flights will originate from the Grand Forks base.
An earlier flight on Thursday was cancelled because of maintenance problems, and then a flight Friday was aborted because of poor weather.
The Predator weighs five tons, has a 20-metre wingspan, and can fly undetected as high as 50,000 feet.
It can fly for 28 hours at a time, and will be equipped with sensors and radar.
The drone has been in use along the southern border with Mexico since 2005.