SureScan Corp., the first company to receive U.S. certification for a multi-energy stationary gantry explosive detection system (EDS), believes it could get the first orders for the x1000 in 2015, LeeAnn Levesque, the New York-based company’s CEO told Defense Daily
’s sister publication Homeland Security Report in a recent interview.
In April the Transportation Security Administration certified SureScan’s x1000 EDS system after it met requirements for detection and false alarm rates in the Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Laboratory. The company’s x1000 previously successfully completed the first phase of operational test and evaluation (OT&E), which took place in 2011, in the agency’s Transportation Security Integration Facility.
Before the TSA will commit to purchases of any EDS system it must also go through the second phase of OT&E, which occurs in a live airport environment in the United States.
Levesque says SureScan is discussing its “plans, strategies and options” with TSA and is being “deliberate” about its path to commercialization of the x1000 so that it is “airport ready.” That said, “We are already talking to customers” and it is “very reasonable” to expect a sale to an international customer in 2015, she says.
SureScan is also working through the process in Europe for Standard 3 certification, which applies to computed tomography-based EDS systems and the need to meet minimum required levels of detection. Airports in the European Union where Level One screening is required will have to use EDS by 2020 instead of the Advanced Technology X-ray systems currently being used.
Levesque said that there are opportunities in the coming years for SureScan and its competitors to sell more than 3,000 EDS into Europe alone.
The x1000 is capable of integrating into baggage handling systems operating at medium and high speeds. The system was certified by TSA for medium-speed requirements but SureScan plans to eventually return to the TSL for high-speed certification, Levesque said.
TSA’s plans for the next year don’t envision a lot of EDS purchases and the high-speed portion of that isn’t much. Levesque said that the agency appears to be mainly interested in the medium-speed systems, which account for the vast majority of the EDS it has purchased over the years, while the international market “is predominantly interested in a high speed system.”
For SureScan, the “great news” is the x1000 is “one and the same” when it comes to operating at medium and high speeds, Levesque said.
SureScan is touting the “future proofing” of the x1000, which means it can be upgraded in the field to handle higher or lower belt speeds and changing threats such as detection of homemade explosives. So if the requirements change regarding the need to detect new explosives, the x1000’s software algorithms can be upgraded to meet these demands, she said.
The x1000’s stationary gantry helps ensure lower life-cycle costs and its rectangular tunnel means fewer bag jams, which improves the economic model for airports, Levesque said.
“We have had an enormous open arm reception [from potential customers] for all these reasons,” she said.
TSA currently buys its EDS systems from Morpho Detection, a unit of France’s Safran Group, L-3 Communications [LLL], and Leidos [LDOS]. Those companies also compete internationally with other companies such as OSI Systems’ [OSIS] Rapiscan Systems division Britain’s Smiths Detection to sell EDS systems to airports for checked baggage screening.
L-3 has also developed a fixed-gantry EDS system, the MV3D, which has been certified by TSA.