Security detection company American Science and Technology [ASEI] on Thursday introduced a new handheld X-Ray imaging system that it is marketing to a wide range of customers, including the broad public safety arena, to detect explosives, weapons, drugs and contraband in everything from car and plane seats to the bulkheads of drug running boats.
The MINI Z is based on the company’s Z backscatter technology that is the foundation for its bestselling Z Backscatter Van (ZBV) and other cargo, vehicle and parcel inspection systems sold to the United States and international governments and customers. But those systems are typically expensive, very much so in the case of the ZBV and other vehicle and cargo inspection systems.
The MINI Z will sell in the $50,000 range, making it easier to be purchased by law enforcement and first responder authorities in states, metropolitan areas and other customers such as airport and transit authorities, Chuck Dougherty, president and CEO of AS&E, told Defense Daily.
Dougherty believes that one of the biggest applications for his company’s new system, which he said is the first in what is planned to be a family of portable products based on the Z backscatter technology, will be for scanning unattended bags. Unlike conventional portable X-Ray systems that can be bulky and take tens of minutes to deploy and set up, the MINI Z can be carried to the bag, turned on immediately along with its accompanying tablet computer that enables the device and displays the image, and providing an instant image of the contents without having to move the bag, he said.
AS&E conducted briefings and demonstrations of its new product in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday for dozens of interested and potential federal, state, local and international customers. Similar briefings and demonstrations are planned in the months ahead in different areas of the U.S. as the company expands its marketing and outreach, Dougherty said.
The company has sold some of its legacy products in the public safety space but Dougherty said the small form factor, which gives the MINI Z a wide range of utility, combined with its price, opens this market to the company in a big way. He envisions sales of several units to hundreds to different customers depending on their needs.
As the device is purchased and used, Dougherty said customers will continue to find new uses for it. Moreover, he said, once some of these new customers gain experience with the Z backscatter technology, some of them may eventually begin to consider the company’s larger systems depending on their needs.
The MINI Z doesn’t have a direct competitor but the types of products it will compete with in the marketplace include things like explosives and narcotics trace detectors, portable X-Ray systems, density readers, handheld passive millimeter wave and other radar systems.
In addition to public safety, AS&E is targeting border and security checkpoints, drug enforcement, event and VIP security, and general aviation and maritime security markets for the MINI Z.