By Calvin Biesecker
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) yesterday announced it has made $52.3 million in recent awards to contractors for various new security equipment, most of which is headed to airport security checkpoints, including contracts with OSI Systems [OSIS] and Smiths Detection for their Advanced Technology (AT) X- Ray machines that screen carry-on bags for weapons and explosives.
The contracts signal some of the more significant changes TSA has made in the last two years to improve security at the checkpoints on a wide scale. The agency has been doing a number of pilot tests of different technologies–and had even begun to deploy walk-through explosives trace detection portals for secondary screening before halting that effort due to maintenance troubles with the machines–but hadn’t deployed these systems across the country. TSA has been training some of its officers in behavior recognition techniques to further layer security by being able to detect suspicious persons.
Among the new awards, Smiths Detection received $21 million to supply about 125 of its HI-SCAN 6040aTIX X-RAY AT machines and OSI’s Rapiscan received $9.3 million to supply about 125 of its 620DV X-Ray AT machines to replace conventional X-Ray machines at some checkpoints. Left out of at least this first round of contracts for X-Ray AT is L-3 Communications [LLL], which along with Rapiscan and Britain’s Smiths, had delivered machines for pilot testing at four airports. Those pilot tests are ongoing, a TSA spokeswoman told Defense Daily.
TSA currently has indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contracts with all three X-Ray AT suppliers. L-3’s award is worth up to $89.8 million, Rapiscan’s $98 million and Smiths’ $184 million.
The X-Ray AT machines have limited automatic alerting capabilities for the potential presence of explosives, which is an advance over conventional X-Ray machines, which rely solely on operator interpretation of images to discover potential threats in a person’s carry-on parcels. The X-Ray AT machines also produce clearer images and some allow for multiple views of bags, further enhancing the effectiveness of screeners.
TSA also said it has awarded Analogic [ALOG] and Reveal Imaging Technologies $7.6 million and $5.6 million contracts respectively for their automted-Explosive Detection Systems (EDS) that can be used to screen carry-on bags at checkpoints. The Auto-EDS machines are smaller than those deployed to screen checked bags but still rely on the same technology, computed tomography.
The contracts are important for both firms because earlier this year TSA’s interest in Auto-EDS at checkpoints began to wane as the agency decided in favor of the X-Ray AT machines. The Auto-EDS machines have been in pilot testing but have been troubled by higher than desired false alarm rates. Still, the machines provide three-dimensional images that can be rotated on three axes, giving screeners a clearer view of the contents of a bag. Analogic’s ID/IQ contract is worth up to $77.6 million and Reveal’s $80.4 million, the TSA spokeswoman said.
TSA is buying 12 of Analogic’s COBRA units and eight of Reveal’s Fusion units. The TSA spokeswoman said it hasn’t been determined which airports will receive the X-Ray AT machines and which will receive the Auto-EDS.
In other awards, TSA said it has purchased 200 Fido PaxPoint units from ICx Technologies under a $3.4 million contract and 23 SABRE units from Smiths Detection for $650,000. Fido will be used to screen liquids for explosives and SABRE will be used to provide mobile explosive trace and vapor detection capabilities. Both devices are handheld. TSA has exercised all current options for Fido and SABRE.
TSA also plans to acquire 12 SPO-7 millimeter wave cameras from Britain’s QinetiQ for use in mass transit environments. TSA is currently pilot testing some units at the Staten Island Ferry in New York. The agency is planning to do more laboratory testing with some of the cameras and additional operational test and evaluation. The TSA spokeswoman said one of the goals of this program is “maturation of the system into low rate initial production configuration.”
Finally, TSA awarded Spectrum San Diego $1.7 million for 37 CastScope case and prosthetics screening devices. TSA has an ID/IQ contract in place with Spectrum San Diego for up to 500 units valued at $37.2 million.