L-3 Communications [LLL] says the United Kingdom Department of Transportation has approved its OptEX desktop explosives trace detection system for use in U.K. transportation security applications. L-3 says specific applications include air cargo, hold baggage and passenger checkpoints in airport terminals, as well as government and commercial facilities, military installations and supply chain facilities. OptEX is based on energetic materials detection technology, which uses thermal signatures to detect trace levels of explosives from the surfaces of objects, vehicles or people to indicate a potential explosives threat. The system is already in used in more than a dozen Australian airports and has been deployed in Asia, the Middle East and the Americas.