Customs and Border Protection in late September awarded Astrophysics, Leidos [LDOS], and OSI Systems’ [OSIS] Rapiscan Systems division contracts for new low-energy portal (LEP) X-Ray systems that will be used to vehicles while the occupants remain inside and drive through a checkpoint on their way into the U.S. from Mexico.
Under the $390 million LEP contract, Astrophysics says its initial order is worth more than $82 million, including options, and Leidos says its initial order is worth $107 million, including options.
Rapiscan says that combined with its win earlier this year on the multi-energy portal (MEP) contract, delivery orders on the two contracts so far total about $200 million. The company didn’t break out its order totals for each portal system.
Astrophysics says it will deploy its first unit in 2022 under the potential 12-year contract.
For the LEP program, Rapiscan is supplying its CarView In-lane and Z Portal systems for screening passenger vehicles. The company also says its new under-vehicle backscatter option, is included in the LEP and MEP orders.
For the MEP, Rapiscan is providing its Eagle P60 ZBx inspection system.
Rapiscan also says it expects its LEP and MEP systems to be deployed with the company’s CertScan integration platform used for image analysis, data integration and inspection adjudication.
Astrophysics is supplying its HXC-LaneScan system for the LEP. The company with a 12-foot footprint, the system fits inside a standard travel lane and accommodates trucks, vans and USVs.
Earlier this year, CBP awarded contracts to Leidos, Rapiscan and Britain’s Smiths detection for the $480 million MEP program. The MEP systems allow for the scanning of trucks at ports of entry without the driver having to vacate the vehicle as the systems can scan the cab at a low energy and automatically switch to a higher energy when scanning the cargo box. Leidos says it has received a second delivery order under the MEP contract worth $95 million, including options.
The LEP and MEP awards are key milestones in CBP making significant strides toward scanning all, or at least nearly all, cargo and vehicles entering the U.S. through land ports of entry. In 2020, the agency was scanning about 15 percent of commercial vehicles entering the U.S. at land ports of entry and 1 percent of passenger vehicles. In the next few years, the agency hopes to increase those numbers to around 70 and 40 percent respectively.
By allowing occupants to remain inside truck cabs and personally-owned vehicles, the drive-through MEP and LEP systems allow for faster scanning of the vehicles and cargo.