
Intrusions have been a constant threat in many areas. In particular the threats are bigger where the intruder is ready to invest high effort to achieve his goal. That is the case when bank safes are concerned, when movements of illegal immigrants across borders or when terrorists or military personnel try to infiltrate undetected across borders. The problem of blocking such an intruder is much harder when one trues to infiltrate via a tunnel excavated in a depth of tens of meters below the ground.
Since the consequences of a successful infiltration are very series, there is a need for a reliable system for the prevention of such infiltration.
To detect subsurface activity, systems have been developed in which vibration sensors are deployed along the boundary. The outputs of the vibration sensors are taken as an indication of underground activity and can therefore be used to detect the digging of tunnels or activity within tunnels which indicates secretive attempts to cross the boundary. However, existing systems have a high false alarm rate from acoustic, RF and surface events. The problem of false alarms is less significant when above ground activity is monitored. That is because the cost of verification is not high, whereas verification of underground false alarm is very expensive.
An underground fence was built on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. The checkpoint consists of thick metal gaskets, which are placed deep into the ground at depths of 15-30 meters. However, a welding machine can cut a metal window without causing significant fluctuations or detection. This barrier is found to be inefficient and has been broken by hostile forces.
Building a physical barrier alone, however strong and powerful, does not solve the problem, since the effort that the intruder is prepared to invest in order to achieve his goal is not limited in time and resources, the end of every physical barrier being breached by time and resources constraints.
The problems listed above led to the development of the CIR700 system for underground protection of borders.
The CIR700 system, manufactured by Massad, is a system of underground walls backed by electro-optical sensors to detect a certain injury and penetration at the physical protection. The strength of the barrier can be controlled by the thickness of the foundry frame made of steel, the strength of the concrete and the type of reinforcement rods, as well as the quality of the sensor embedded in the wall.
This system is an electronic mechanical system which combined sensors embedded in a steel and concrete element are connected to the control units of the sensor located in a secure location. The sensor control units analyze the sensor’s signals and create a definite alert for the intrusion or attack of the protective wall. The detection resolution is equal to the width and depth of the selected element in the protected wall.