A second protest filed by L3 Technologies [LLL] in mid-May of a decision to award the first contract for new checkpoint baggage scanners to Smiths Detection means it will likely be 2020 before deployments of the computed tomography (CT)-based machines will begin, industry officials tell HSR.

L3 filed a protest on April 9 of the Transportation Security Administration’s $96.8 million award to Smiths for 300 of the company’s HI-SCAN CTiX checkpoint CT systems after the agency in late March selected the Britain-based company over L3, Analogic, and Integrated Defense & Security Solutions, all of which also offered CT systems. The deadline for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to resolve that protest is July 18.

L3 subsequently filed another protest on May 17 with GAO that is due for a decision by Aug. 26.

L3 isn’t commenting on the reasons for its protests. It’s possible the GAO renders a decision on both protests by the July 18 deadline, which would leave open a slight window for some deployments of Smiths’ systems this year if the award is upheld.

If a decision on the second protest isn’t made until late August and the award is upheld, TSA in late August or early September will begin final negotiations with Smiths on the path forward under the contract. If L3’s protest is sustained by the GAO, that will likely result in further delays in the deployments of any checkpoint CT systems, possibly well into 2020.

If the award to Smiths is ultimately upheld, once the contract with Smiths is finalized, the company has 90 days to deliver the first system for TSA testing and evaluation, which will take a month or two, an industry official said. Once TSA is satisfied, it will green light Smiths to begin deliveries.

Even if the process is sped up, neither airports nor TSA will want to introduce new technology at the checkpoints during the Christmas season when passenger volume is ramping up, creating the potential for delays if there are hiccups with the installations and initial start of operation. At a rate of 30 deliveries a month, assuming Smiths begins deployments in Jan. 2020, it will be Oct. 2020 before the installations under the first contract are complete, opening the possibility that Congress saves the proposed funding for checkpoint CT systems in fiscal year 2020 and instead provides it in fiscal year 2021, which officially begins on Oct. 1, 2020, an industry official said.

For FY ’20, which begins on Oct. 1, 2019, TSA has requested $191.9 million to purchase 320 additional checkpoint CT units. Smiths won the initial award because its offering price was substantially lower than TSA had expected so depending on industry proposals in the next contract round, the budget request could possibly support more CT units than planned.

Smiths Detection is part of Britain’s Smiths Group.

The House Appropriations Committee on June 11 added $27.8 million to TSA’s checkpoint CT request for FY ’20, saying the plus up will allow the agency to buy about 365 systems. The committee said it is recommending an increase in the budget “to accelerate the procurement and installation of CT equipment at airport checkpoints to provide enhanced detection capabilities for carry-on baggage.”

As checkpoint CT systems are deployed, travelers won’t have to take their electronics out of their bags, saving time at the checkpoint. The machines provide TSA operators with three-dimensional images of a bag’s contents, making it easier to spot threats. Eventually, the CT systems are expected to provide automated detection capabilities for explosives and weapons, further speeding up the scanning of carry-on bags.