The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently issued a notice seeking sources for handheld or benchtop devices capable of screening bottles for liquid explosives with the aim of establishing a Qualified Product List (QPL) for systems that meet certain specifications.
Bottled Liquid Scanners that are supplied for the upcoming test process will be evaluated against a list of classified explosive liquids and explosive liquid precursors, the agency says in a March 11 Sources Sought Notice (HSTS-04-08-R-ST1031). Proposals are due by March 31. TSA plans to notify vendors it deems eligible for the testing sometime in April and then follow up with an industry day in May.
If a company’s product meets the test and evaluation objectives, it will be able to submit a proposal later this year for a possible contract award. TSA plans to compete orders between products that are put on the QPL.
Requirements for the liquid scanners include the ability to distinguish from benign liquids regardless of the shape of the bottles, that they work on unopened bottles made of clear glass or plastic without the need to remove the labeling, that the bottles contain between three and 51 ounces, and the maximum sizes of the bottles be five inches wide and 12 inches tall.
Shortly after authorities in the United Kingdom foiled a plot by terrorists who planned to use liquid explosives to blow up planes during flights to the United States, the Department of Homeland Security began seeking technologies that could detect liquid explosives. Those efforts went slowly at first until last spring when the TSA began to pilot test a handheld scanning device supplied by ICx Technologies [ICXT]. Then last fall TSA awarded ICx a $3.4 million contract to deliver 200 of its Fido PaxPoint units (Defense Daily, Oct. 4, 2007).