L-3 Communications [LLL] has introduced a more advanced X-Ray inspection system for checkpoint screening that it hopes will win approval, and contracts, from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) under new requirements for the Advanced Technology (AT) X-Ray system program.
The ACX 6.4-MV provides automated detection of explosives, including liquid explosives, and is available in one, two or three-view configurations. The one and two-view variants are field upgradeable in several hours to the two and three-view configurations depending on customer needs.
L-3 expects TSA to begin testing the ACX 6.4-MV later in the first half of 2009 leading to a potential contract award by the end of FY ’09, Bill Frain, senior vice president for L-3’s Security and Detection Systems division, tells TR2. Earlier this year L-3 responded to a new solicitation from TSA for AT X-Ray machines with the ability to automatically detect explosives, Frain says.
L-3 was in the running in 2007 when TSA tested AT X-Ray machines from three companies, including Smiths Detection and OSI Systems [OSIS] (TR2, July 25, 2007). Unlike the other two firms which offered multiple view systems, L-3’s offering, called the ACX 6.4, was a single-view system. In the end, the agency selected Smiths and OSI Systems for awards and continues to buy and deploy their AT machines (TR2, Oct. 17, 2007).
Now L-3 has a multi-view system, meaning its new ACX 6.4 can provide operators with multiple views of the contents of a parcel or bag as it passes through the X-Ray system. The system has three sets of detectors and three X-Ray sources.
Those multiple detectors combined with L-3’s software algorithms give the ACX 6.4-MV an out-of-the-box ability to automatically detect explosives, Frain says. The system detects explosives by analyzing a combination of the mass and density of objects. While it won’t detect a bottle of water, it will detect a bottle that contains liquid chemicals that can be used to make a bomb, Frain says. The system alerts operators to potential explosives by putting a red box on the screen around the item of interest.
L-3 will be able to continue improving the software capabilities of the ACX 6.4-MV to detect more threats, he says.
The advantage of any multi-view system, beyond the fact that it provides enough data to permit the development of software algorithms to automatically detect explosives, is that an operator can see the images of the contents of a parcel from different angles, making it easier to visibly determine if there may be a weapon, contraband or bomb inside.
Frain says he hopes TSA awards contracts for new AT X-Ray systems by the end of FY ’09. He expects TSA to move forward with at least two vendors at that time.
As for L-3’s original single-view ACX-6.4, which is not upgradeable to a multi-view system, the company is finding markets for this. Frain says some small and medium freight forwarders have acquired the system to help meet air cargo screening mandates. These haven’t been “huge dollar” sales, he says. Manufacturers have also shown interest in the system, he adds. There has also been interest in the company’s Multi-View Computed Tomography that meets international requirements for screening checked baggage.
Under TSA’s Certified Cargo Shipping Program, 50 percent of all cargo bound for passenger planes departing from airports in the U.S. must be screened for explosives by next February. By Aug. 2010 all cargo on passenger planes leaving U.S. airports must be screened for explosives. To accomplish this TSA is trying to spread the screening of cargo throughout the supply chain, including manufacturers (TR2, Nov. 12).
The ACX 6.4-MV has a small footprint so that it can fit into existing checkpoints without any redesign, L-3 says. The company’s marketing literature says the system can screen up to 700 bags per hour.