"TSA To Test Additional Personal Imaging Systems At Airports"

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

TSA To Test Additional Personal Imaging Systems At Airports 
By Calvin Biesecker 
Defense Daily


The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) yesterday said it has
awarded small lease contracts to three companies to pilot test their
passenger imaging systems for secondary screening at security checkpoints at
three airports in the coming months. 

A total of $2.3 million in lease agreements have been signed with American
Science and Engineering [ASEI], L-3 Communications [LLL] and OSI Systems
[OSIS] Rapiscan division requiring each company to deliver five of their
systems to TSA for testing in airports for up to six months. The contracts
include options to purchase additional units. 

AS&E and Rapiscan are providing their respective X-Ray backscatter imaging
systems while L-3 is providing its active millimeter wave imaging system. 

The select airports are John F. Kennedy in New York, Los Angeles
International and Phoenix Sky Harbor in Arizona. 

TSA has been pilot testing AS&E's SmartCheck X-Ray backscatter imaging
system at Sky Harbor since February (Defense Daily, Feb. 27). 

"Millimeter wave and backscatter expand our explosives detection
capabilities at the checkpoint, and further testing will allow us to
determine the role these technologies can play in the future," TSA
Administrator Kip Hawley said in a statement. 

The backscatter and millimeter wave systems display a lot of detail about a
person's body to whoever is viewing the operator's display, but also allows
screeners to search for bombs and weapons that may be hidden beneath a
person's clothing without having to conduct pat down searches. 

Under the ongoing and expanded pilot passenger imaging system pilot project,
the images taken by the screening systems will be viewed remotely by
operators who will not be able to see the live person being screened. Also,
Transportation Security screeners assisting passengers at the imaging
systems will not be able to view the images. Images will not be stored,
transmitted or printed. 

For L-3 and Rapiscan the leasing deals will be the first opportunities to
field their respective systems at airports in the United States. L-3 is
providing its ProVision system that is already in use by the U.S. military,
some international airports and other customers. Rapiscan's Secure 1000
system is also being used by other customers, including London's Heathrow
Airport. 

Despite the privacy concerns with both backscatter and millimeter wave
systems, TSA says that passengers at Sky Harbor have been choosing the
backscatter system over a physical pat down by a wide margin. 

The new passenger imaging system lease deals follow a similar leasing
arrangement last month between TSA and several firms to supply new X-Ray
imaging systems to screen carry-on baggage at airport checkpoints. L-3,
Rapiscan and Smiths Detection are each supplying their respective multi-view
X-Ray systems that allow screeners to have multiple views of the contents of
carry-on bags during a single pass. And to various degrees each companies'
system has automated explosives detection capabilities.

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