Transportation Security Agency Purchases Personal Screening System

American Science and Engineering Incorporated, Ballerica, Mass., recently announced that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) awarded the company an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with a ceiling value of $245 million for its SmartCheck Personnel Screening System with next generation advanced imaging technology. The IDIQ contract also includes service, maintenance, and training for the SmartCheck systems. As part of this contract, AS&E received its first delivery order for three SmartCheck systems to be tested at TSA facilities. The system was designed to detect concealed threats such as metallic and non-metallic weapons, explosives, and other prohibited items. The SmartCheck system includes the Automated Target Recognition (ATR) capability, which reduces privacy concerns and decreases passenger processing time by displaying only a generic figure with potential threat areas highlighted. In addition, the reduced size of the SmartCheck system is suited for smaller checkpoint configurations.