The Obama Administration earlier this month presented to Congress its request for FY ’13 spending that would reduce planned spending on various aviation security equipment as well as systems used to screen cargo and vehicles entering the nation through land and seaports.
Amid a constrained federal spending environment, the reductions would appear aimed at tightening spending or at giving pause, at least in the case of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), to flush out existing funds that have been previously appropriated but not obligated.
For TSA, the administration is requesting fewer funds for both checkpoint screening and checked baggage screening technologies although there is funding to begin limited purchases of high-speed explosives detection systems (EDS) for screening checked bags.
The biggest hit to aviation security funding would be for checkpoint security, where TSA is seeking $105.8 million in FY ’13 versus $190.4 million in FY ’12. The biggest surprise might be no funding for Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT), the controversial whole-body imagers that the agency has been deploying the past two years to check to see if airline passengers are hiding bombs, bomb components or weapons beneath their clothing.
Purchases of AIT systems are behind schedule as TSA has only 300 of a planned by of 500 AIT systems using FY ’11 funding. The agency ordered 300 of L-3 Communications’ [LLL] AIT systems in September once that company’s Automated Target Recognition (ATR) software was ready for use with the imagers (TR2, Sept. 14, 2011).
The only other qualified vendor that TSA has purchased AIT systems from, OSI Systems [OSIS] Rapiscan division, still has to have its ATR software approved by the agency before it will acquire anymore of the company’s systems.
Once the FY ’11 purchases are complete, TSA plans to acquire next-generation AIT systems, called AIT-2 (See Business Opportunities section this issue). TSA has funding in FY ’12 for 250 AIT systems, which won’t likely be spent until late in FY ’12. Additional companies are hoping to have their AIT systems qualified to compete for that work.
Industry officials tell TR2 they aren’t surprised by the reduced overall funding for TSA security equipment given the amount of funding still being carried over from FY ’11 and expected to carry over from FY ’12 into FY ’13.
As for the AIT systems, the pent up funding combined with a new risk-based passenger screening program called PreCheck is allowing the company to reassess its originally planned build out of the systems. TSA says in the FY ’13 request that full operational capability for AITs may chance based on its risk-based security initiatives, coupled with potential reductions in processing times and the qualification of the AIT-2 systems.
In addition to AIT systems, TSA isn’t seeking any funding in FY ’13 for new credential authentication technology, which was fully funded in prior years despite the agency just now entering the initial test phases, and nothing for automated wait time technology, which also received full funding in prior years but only recently was put under contract for laboratory testing.
TSA is also slowing its purchases of next-generation explosives trace detectors, which it acquires from Safran Group’s Morpho Detection (MDI) unit, to just 50 systems in FY ’13 versus 100 in FY ’12 and 865 in prior years.
TSA is purchasing more Advanced Technology X-Ray systems in FY ’13 than in FY ’12, 150 versus 50 systems respectively, to continue deploying the carry-on baggage scanners. TSA buys these systems from Rapiscan and Smiths Detection.
For checked baggage screening, the planned spending reduction isn’t as great as that for the checkpoint technologies, as TSA seeks $183.9 million versus $200.6 million in FY ’12. The planned FY ’13 procurement consists of 29 ($14.5 million) reduced-size EDS systems, for which Science Applications International Corp. [SAI] and L-3 are currently qualified to sell to the agency, 112 ($134.4M) medium-speed systems, which MDI and L-3 are qualified to sell, and 14 ($35M) high-speed systems, which vendors are still trying to become qualified.
TSA had hoped to begin selecting contractors for high-speed EDS systems more than a year ago.
Maintenance funding for checkpoint and checked baggage technologies is only being reduced slightly, as the agency is seeking $234.8 million in FY ’13 for EDS support versus $257.3 million in FY ’12 while $72.2 million is sought for checkpoint maintenance support in FY ’13 versus $59.4 million in FY ’12.
As for the screening of inbound cargo and land and seaports, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will not be purchasing any new equipment in FY ’13 and instead will be shifting its non-intrusive inspection (NII) program to an operations and maintenance mode.
CBP seeks $117.6 million for its NII program in FY ’13 versus a $148.5 million appropriation in FY ’12. CBP says in budget documents that the program will rely on currently fielded equipment and that the agency is developing a risk-mitigation plan to shift resources to still meet mission requirements that balance the need to efficiently move trade while screening and intercepting high-risk cargo.
CBP says the requested funds will “ensure installation of mandated security and vendor upgrades” while also supporting upgrades to the radiation portal monitoring program to be compliant with the Port Inspection Detection and Evaluation. The monies would also enable CBP to supplement RPM systems that are nearing the end of their life-cycle with ancillary equipment and components to enhance their capability.