WASHINGTON - The Grand Forks branch of the Northern Border Air Wing will open in July, North Dakota's senators announced Monday.

Sens. Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said the Department of Homeland Security plans to send a survey team to the state this month. The new wing is to include helicopters and fixed-wing planes fitted with sensor equipment, and several dozen staff members, the senators said in a statement.

The Homeland Security Department also plans a northern border unmanned aircraft program based in Grand Forks, the statement from Conrad and Dorgan said.

The senators said a new 65,000-square-foot building will be built at the Grand Forks airport during the summer, with a grand opening in September.

The Grand Forks Air Force Base is making the transition from a tanker base to an unmanned aerial vehicle mission.

"This new Northern Border Air Wing will be a boost for the security of our border with Canada, the city of Grand Forks and the emerging UAV mission at Grand Forks," Dorgan said.

"We have a long, unprotected northern border and we need to make sure it is secure."

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency's Grand Forks sector watches 847 miles of border and oversees eight states, including North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri.

"It is vital to the security of our nation that we protect our borders," Conrad said "The establishment of the Grand Forks Air Wing is a giant step in enhancing our homeland security."