By Calvin Biesecker
Canada’s Transport Ministry on Monday said it will purchase and deploy 44 body scanners from L-3 Communications [LLL] for approximately $10.7 million, with delivery and installations to begin this month in response to the failed Christmas Day bombing attempt aboard a passenger plane en route to Detroit from Amsterdam.
The contract prices L-3’s ProVision millimeter wave imagers at $242,300 apiece, including installation costs and spare parts, a spokeswoman for Transport Canada told Defense Daily yesterday. The first 12 systems will go into Canada’s eight busiest airports and are expected to be fully operational by March. The remaining systems are expected to be delivered this spring, she said.
“Given the recent terrorist incident on December 25, our government is accelerating its actions to protect air travellers,” Join Baird, Canada’s Transport Minister, said in a statement on Monday. “The new full body scanners are the next generation of technology and balance safety and security with safeguards to privacy.”
Passengers will be given a choice between using the scanners and a physical search. Just like the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) does in the United States, Canadian screeners who will view the millimeter wave images of a passenger will not be able to see the passenger. The images will also be deleted once the screener completes a review.
The TSA currently has 40 of the ProVision systems, 34 of which are deployed for secondary screening and six for primary screening at aviation security checkpoints. The agency has also ordered 150 Advanced Imaging Technology systems–TSA’s name for the whole body imagers–from OSI Systems [OSIS] Rapiscan division with deliveries expected to begin this month (Defense Daily, Jan. 5). Rapiscan’s Secure 1000 systems are based on backscatter X-Ray technology.
TSA plans to buy another 300 of the whole body imagers this year and currently has contracts in place to be able to purchase from L-3 and Rapiscan.
Currently, L-3 and Rapiscan represent the primary competitors in the global market for the whole body imaging systems although American Science and Engineering [ASEI] and Britain’s Smiths Detection each of systems that may enter the fray this year.
In addition to the whole body imagers, Canada plans to seek bids from companies to develop a passenger behavior observation program and related training. The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority wants its screening officers training in behavior detection techniques to identify suspicious persons. The agency said it will not conduct racial or ethnic profiles.