Aerial surveillance​​​​​​​

Unidentified surveillance aircraft flying over Tucson and appearing on ADS-B Exchange with the dynamic hex ~269A9A; Photographed from 32.210269, -110.992281; Digital photograph; 7 Nov 2024.

This is almost certainly N672AZ or N671AZ, both of which are owned by the Pima County Sheriff's Department (PCSD). This plane(s) conducts daily surveillance over Tucson, most commonly at night and often for hours at a time. I have been photographing it since March 2024, but because it does not broadcast identifying information through ADS-B, it is usually impossible to definitively identify, particularly at night. However, based on factors like origin airport, engine sound, paint markings, and flight patterns, I am all but certain that this is indeed the same aircraft(s) pictured in the images above and below:

Local police aircraft
Pima County Sheriff's Department (PCSD) and Tucson Police Department (TPD) aircraft.
Above: Two images of a surveillance plane (again, almost certainly the Pima County Sheriff's Department's N672AZ or N671AZ) over Tucson, Arizona in November 2024.
Above 21 images: The aforementioned Pima County Sheriff's Department (PCSD) surveillance plane, photographed in various locations over Tucson in 2024.
Tucson Police Department (TPD) helicopters (there are three: N304PD, N305PD, and N306PD) are also used for surveillance and other operations on a daily basis in the city:
Clockwise from top left: TPD helicopter (N306PD) and PCSD surveillance plane (Hex: ~26B3D3), March 2024; TPD helicopter (N305PD) over the Pima County Jail, November 2024; TPD helicopter (N306PD), March 2024; TPD helicopter (N306PD, higher) and PCSD plane (Hex: ~26B3D3, lower), March 2024; TPD helicopter (N305PD), September 2024; TPD helicopter (N305PD), November 2024.
Federal Police Aircraft
Federal police agencies like U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Marshals, and others regularly conduct surveillance operations within the United States. Many of these operations are conducted with aircraft registered to shell companies with unassuming names, such as T A F Y Consulting (FBI), Heritage Aviation Management Ltd (DEA), or Granite Coast Mapping (CBP).
Two aircraft—N809RH (left, center) and N809LN (right)—operated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) but registered to a shell company called T A F Y Consulting, photographed over Tucson in February and April 2025. Eighteen aircraft are registered to T A F Y Consulting or TAFY Consulting, which is one of several known shell companies used by the FBI.
N156RF, an aircraft operated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) but registered to a shell company called Heritage Aviation Management Ltd, photographed over Tucson in January (left) and March (right) 2025. In neither case was the aircraft broadcasting ADS-B.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security / U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) aircraft N3543B flying a surveillance mission over Tucson, near 32.136818, -110.958873 (Tucson, Arizona); Digital photograph; February 2025.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) helicopter N370SR—identified only through these images, as it only appeared on ADS-B Exchange with the dynamic hex ~268206—during an operation over Tucson's southwest side on 28 May 2025. Photographed from Presidio Gardens Community Park.
Five unmarked police vehicles idling in the neighborhood below as N370SR circled overhead. The vehicles in the left images are at Ebonie Marie Moody Park (32.126199, -111.028190), and the vehicle in the image on the right is in a nearby convenience store's parking lot (32.119795, -111.028683). I later photographed three of the vehicles pictured on the left as they were leaving the neighborhood after the helicopter had departed.

N370SR has an atypical paint design among the DHS/CBP fleet, and does not seem to be based in Tucson. I have now photographed it on three days in April and May 2025; in each case, it was flying a circular surveillance pattern over an area in the city and later flew northwest before disappearing from ADS-B Exchange. The video clip above shows the final pass made by this helicopter on 28 May before it again left the city heading northwest.

CBP Air and Marine Operations (AMO) Flight Operations Facility - El Paso Air Branch; 31.795970, -106.392580 (El Paso, Texas); Composite of five digital photographs; March 2025

US ARMY NATIONAL GUARD
The U.S. Army National Guard conducts surveillance and other border security operations throughout the southwestern border region on a daily basis, most commonly with Eurocopter UH-72 Lakota helicopters based at a variety of facilities in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and elsewhere.

U.S. Army National Guard Eurocopter UH-72A Lakota, reg. number 12-72233, at the Tucson International Airport; 32.127737, -110.943339 (Tucson, Arizona); Digital photograph; January 2025.

The above screenshots from ADS-B Exchange show examples of this helicopter's activity in Southern Arizona (29 October 2024, left) and in the area of Stockton in California's Central Valley (3 October 2024, right).

U.S. Army National Guard Eurocopter UH-72A Lakota helicopter, reg. number 12-72270, during a border policing mission in New Mexico; Near 31.792280, -106.568779 (Sunland Park, New Mexico); Digital photograph; May 2024.

By switching off their lights, these helicopters become invisible from the ground at night. These two images were taken of a U.S. Army National Guard helicopter (likely 12-72270, but possibly another) as it engaged in a coordinated hunt with US Border Patrol and the Texas Department of Public Safety (state police) for an unauthorized border crosser in Sunland Park, New Mexico, in May 2024.

U.S. Army Aviation Operations Facility at the Las Cruces International Airport; 32.278926, -106.932591 (Las Cruces, New Mexico); Digital photograph; March 2025. This facility houses the New Mexico National Guard's C Company, 3rd Battalion, 140th Aviation Regiment, which includes four UH-72A Lakota helicopters deployed for border security and surveillance missions.

OTHER SURVEILLANCE AIRCRAFT
A number of private military technology companies conduct surveillance in the United States and elsewhere to develop and test surveillance technology or as part of other operations under contract with government and military agencies. 
One example is ISR Platforms LLC (ISR is a common acronym in this realm referring to Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance), which has a small fleet of aircraft registered to an address in McLean, Virginia not far from the CIA headquarters. Information on this company is difficult to find; no federal government contracts are linked with a company by this name, and some unverified online sources suggest it might be a shell company for MAG Aerospace.

N33NH, an aircraft owned by a McLean, Virginia-based military technology company called ISR Platforms LLC, at Las Cruces International Airport; 32.283603, -106.920743 (Las Cruces, New Mexico); Digital photograph; March 2025.


ISR Platforms LLC has a fleet of eleven aircraft and conducts surveillance technology testing and other operations in a variety of locations in the U.S. as well as Colombia, the Philippines, Canada, Mali, and elsewhere. Examples of such activity can be seen below:
Above, left to right: N33NH conducting surveillance over Las Cruces, New Mexico (June 2024); Olympia, Washington (July 2024); and Pahrump, Nevada (January 2025).
Above, left and center: N859GA flying operations in Colombia in February and April 2025. Above right: N71EB flying operations in the Philippines in February 2025.
Above, left to right: N208MG conducting surveillance near Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (October 2023); east of San Diego, California (November 2023); and east of Atlanta, Georgia (January 2024).
Above, left to right: N502CS conducting surveillance over Hopkinsville, Kentucky (May 2021); N32NH conducting surveillance east of Orlando, Florida (April 2024); and N591SR flying what is likely a testing operation east of Dallas, Texas (March 2025).
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