The federal government says it has settled on finalists to design President Donald Trump's proposed border wall with Mexico, but it won't identify them.
At least one Arizona company, however, says they were told they were moving on as a finalist.
Dennis O’Leary, CEO of Scottsdale’s DarkPulse Technologies, says their proposal was chosen to proceed to phase two of the selection process.
DarkPulse Technologies Inc. is a company that believes technology is the answer. DarkPulse teamed up with other companies to submit a bid that includes ballistic resistant concrete capable of repelling a tank attack. But the secret weapon in their wall is sensors that can detect an attack, or even an attempt to climb or tunnel under the wall.
“If anyone comes up to the wall, tries to climb it, go through it, tunnel under it, border patrol is going to know,” said O’Leary. “The technology is such that it could detect movement in the soil.”
O’Leary said the company uses fiber wire embedded in the wall itself and ground around the wall. Pressure sensitive fiber can actually produce an image of any attempted attack, climbing attempt or tunnel. The image return looks similar to thermal imaging and can be relayed to border agents in real time. It will determine the point of the problem with accuracy within a few millimeters.
RELATED: ABC15 highlighted the DarkPulse proposal in April
U.S. Customs and Border Protection won't say how many proposals moved on in the process, but it has said previously that it would pick up to 20.
An agency document released last month by Senate Democrats says authorities plan to select winners by June 14 to build prototypes in San Diego on a short stretch of land near the Otay Mesa border crossing with Mexico in California.
Building a wall on the Mexican border was a cornerstone of Trump's presidential campaign and a flash point for his detractors. A stopgap measure to fund the government through September doesn't provide money for construction.
Roughly 200 companies submitted proposals for the wall, including approximately 30 from Arizona.
ABC15 has reached out to CMJ Systems, who spoke with us in March, but have not gotten a response.
Stay with ABC15 and ABC15.com for the latest on this developing story.
