Rapiscan Systems this year added new detection capabilities to its broadening scanning systems portfolio having acquired the assets and related personnel-support of the CounterBomber standoff bomb detection system from Leidos [LDOS].
Rapiscan, the security division of OSI Systems [OSIS], acquired CounterBomber in May, J.J. Bare, division manager for CounterBomber, tells HSR at the recent Association of the United States Army conference in Washington, DC. The company did not issue a press release about the acquisition, which was relatively small. About 14 individuals joined Rapiscan though the acquisition, he says.
CounterBomber is used to detect anomalies on persons at standoff ranges, basically about the length of a football field although exact ranges are restricted. The radar system is mounted on a tripod and can be concealed, including for mobile applications, depending on the security operations. It includes a camera to capture video of what the system is looking at, automatically interrogates walking subjects once they enter an area of interest, and provides a red light/green light indication if an anomaly has been detected or not.
The system was originally designed to detect suicide vests on terrorists but it can also be used to find weapons on people, Bare says.
The U.S. government owns more than 50 CounterBombers and about 30 are deployed, Bare says. Customers include the Army, Marine Corps and Dutch Army and some international clients in Africa. The system is used in entry control point configurations but an array of CounterBombers can also be used in an open environment for standoff detection, he says.
Bare believes that there is “enormous” market potential for CounterBomber and says Rapiscan provides a good fit for the business because of its worldwide distribution network and its willingness to invest in the system and technology. Rapiscan has helped in integrating inputs from multiple CounterBombers and other sensors into a command and control picture, he says.
Rapiscan’s S2 unit, which provides screening services to customers using various types of the company’s scanning technology, is very interested in CounterBomber, Bare says. He adds that S2 is configuring the system inside a van for discreet screening applications.
Rapiscan recently introduced a new handheld explosives trace detector, the Detectra HX, part of the company’s product portfolio expansion. The company to release its first desktop ETD next summer and also plans to introduce a multimode scanning system (HSR, Oct. 7).
Rapiscan is known for its range of scanning products, from metal detectors and body scanners and X-Ray systems for screening small bags at checkpoints to its larger systems that screen cargo and containers at seaports and land ports of entry. The company also has technology and software for radiation monitoring and detection.
Rapiscan is investing to shrink the size of the CounterBomber system so that it can go from its current long-range detection capabilities to much shorter ranges, say between two and 30 meters, Bare says. This will help the “technology thrive,” he says, adding that such advances will open new markets including law enforcement and facilities protection.
A prototype of a smaller version of the technology is expected within the next 10 to 12 months and four to five months later it should be ready for production, Bare says. If the technology works, OSI Systems Chairman and CEO Deepak Chopra wants to go to market with it, he says.
Houlihan Lokey was the financial advisor on the transaction. Leidos, which previously was part of Science Applications International Corp. [SAIC], acquired the CounterBomber technology as part of its acquisition of Science, Engineering and Technology Associates in 2010.