Leidos [LDOS] this month said it has been selected by the Dominican Republic’s Punta Cana International Airport to provide a comprehensive suite of products to upgrade and integrate the security checkpoints.
The contract includes eight of the company’s ClearScan checkpoint computed tomography (CT) carry-on baggage scanners, eight ProPassage automated security lanes that are integrated with the CT systems, four ProVision 2 advanced imaging technology (AIT) body scanners, and the Mosaic platform to integrate the various security systems and connect with other airport operations. The airport already uses the company’s B220 explosives trace detectors (ETDs).
The value of the award wasn’t disclosed but adds to the company’s international deployments of its various security detection technologies. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration almost exclusively uses the ProVision2 AIT systems and also has deployed the company’s ETDs.
In addition to Punta Cana, ClearScan has been deployed to 10 additional airports internationally and Leidos is projecting installations at two more airports in Europe later this year, as well as with the Bahrain police force.
Leidos is also competing to provide its ClearScan CT systems to TSA under the agency’s Checkpoint Property Screening System (CPSS) program, which is for screening carry-on bags at airport checkpoints. So far, TSA has only acquired CPSS systems from Analogic, which is using the Leidos ProPassage automated security lanes with its installations.
TSA has also acquired 300 checkpoint CT systems from Smiths Detection
under the predecessor program to CPSS, advanced technology/computed tomography, or AT/CT. As of early June, the agency said 299 of Smiths’ systems have been deployed, 107 of Analogic’s, eight from Integrated Defense and Security Solutions (IDSS) and six from Leidos. The CT units deployed from IDSS and Leidos date back several years to when TSA deployed systems from each competitor to better understand their impact on the checkpoint.
The upcoming installations at Punta Cana, which will begin this year with several lanes and be complete in the first half of 2023 with the remaining lanes, is “our real first entire Leidos checkpoint,” Bradley Buswell, the company’s senior vice president for security detection and automation, told HSR in a virtual interview. “We’re providing every piece of equipment at that checkpoint,” he said, adding that “we’re kind of dubbing this the ‘Leidos Lane’ and it will be the first time that we’ve really integrated everything together in one checkpoint.”
The ClearScan systems automatically alert for potential explosives threats and operator review of the image.
The ProPassage automated security lanes include multiple divest stations for passengers, automated bin returns, mechanized intake and egress conveyors, and a divert station in the event of an alarm so that a bag can be moved away from a passenger and where a security agent can conduct a secondary inspection.
Data Platform
Regarding use of the Mosaic platform by the airport, Buswell said that Leidos is working with airport authorities to understand how they want to use the data, whether that’s to improve the passenger experience, enhance the efficiency of the screening process, or optimize use of the screening lanes based on expected passenger loads “to help them understand what they need to operate.”
Leidos has deep expertise in enterprise information technology, cloud operations and cybersecurity, which is a competitive advantage for the company when customers choose Mosaic, Buswell said. The platform is deployed in some places in India and is being demonstrated elsewhere, he said.
The Punta Cana deployment will be a showcase for Leidos in terms of its complete checkpoint security detection equipment and integration capabilities for a system of systems deployment, Buswell said. The airport is “really excited” about the various applications that can be created with Mosaic to help the checkpoint screening process, he said, adding that Leidos is eventually hoping to have similar efforts in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
Work on Prohibited Items Detection
Buswell also said that Leidos has developed a prohibited items detection algorithm for ClearScan that TSA has demonstrated at a checkpoint in Las Vegas “with quite a bit of success.” The algorithm is also being demonstrated in “a couple of places in Europe,” he said.
“We can either have an alarm for the operator to evaluate or it can be an automatic divert if it detects a gun or a knife or whatever other prohibited items are on the list for the user, or clear if the alarm is deemed to be false by the operator, they can clear it and continue down the track,” Buswell said. He added that Leidos is working with different regulators to get the algorithm approved.