Laredo, TX—Today, Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo), joined by City of Laredo Mayor Raul Salinas, visited the Laredo Fire/Public Safety International Training Facility to view a ShadowHawk unmanned aerial vehicle and listen to a presentation about the ShadowHawk’s capabilities.

“In this era of rapidly-evolving technology, it is important that government, law enforcement and first responders make it a priority to stay aware of all tools available to them in order to ensure that they remain on the cutting edge,” Congressman Cuellar said. “Unmanned aerial vehicles are an efficient and effective way for our emergency responders to leverage limited resources and manpower. I thank Mayor Salinas for taking the time to join me for this educational presentation and Vanguard for traveling to Laredo to showcase this technology.”

After opening remarks from Congressman Cuellar and Mayor Salinas, Vanguard Defense Industries, the distributors of the ShadowHawk vehicle, gave an overview of the product. Following their presentation, they conducted a flight demonstration where attendees and media viewed ShadowHawk operations and participated in a question and answer session.

“Public safety is critical to thriving communities like Laredo, and providing the necessary resources to enhance security is essential. Public safety is and continues to be our #1 priority,” said Mayor Raul G. Salinas. “This cutting edge technology will help make Laredo and our nation safer. I strongly support efforts to bring these UAVs to our border communities.”

A ShadowHawk model unmanned aerial vehicle is currently in use by the Sheriff Department in Montgomery County, Texas, which received a Department of Homeland Security grant for its purchase. The ShadowHawk has abilities enabling it to complete missions involving fire and rescue, emergency management, and search and rescue, among others.

“Vanguard Defense Industries looks forward to working with Congressman Cuellar as well as federal and local government in providing border security technology that will save lives with our ShadowHawk UAS,” said Michael Buscher, CEO of Vanguard Defense Industries.

The ShadowHawk’s capabilities enable it to find heat sources and cut through smoke and haze (day or night) with its Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) cameras. The vehicle can also stream video to an incident commander or fire station.

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