A $96.8 million computed tomography (CT) systems contract from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was awarded last week to Smiths Detection, Inc.
The contract will cover the next five years, over which 300 CT systems and their affiliated equipment will be deployed at various airports throughout the United States. That technology helps TSA screen checked baggage and security checkpoints, and around a dozen units are already in use.
“Smiths Detection, Inc., offered the best value for TSA in this procurement, and has been chosen to support the most consequential technology deployment to checkpoints in the recent history of the agency,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said. “These state-of-the-art 3-D scanners will enable our screening officers to detect explosives and other threats to commercial aviation with unprecedented precision.”
The TSA began moving toward such technology following successful pilots in 2017. This latest procurement will begin in summer 2019 and is expected to be completed in 2020. In making its final decision, the TSA weighed several factors including production capability, price point, and the ability to upgrade the systems.
TSA plans to continue to develop advanced algorithms to improve CT operational efficiency and automated detection.
“This CT purchase supports the larger modernization efforts of the agency and would not be possible without the support of Congress, especially the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House Committee on Homeland Security, as well as our appropriations committees,” Pekoske said. “The nation’s transportation systems are now better off – more secure, as a result of their work on funding this technology.”