Upgrades to deployed body scanners that will enhance detection and result in fewer false alarms will be completed during fiscal year 2022, a Transportation Security Administration official said in December.
TSA is “pushing the envelope on algorithm development,” lowering the false alarm rates, making progress on gender neutral algorithms, and making progress on deploying Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) systems with new capabilities, Mario Wilson, assistant commissioner for acquisition program management, said at the annual American Association of Airport Executives Aviation Security Summit.
There are just over 1,000 AIT systems deployed and TSA has been installing the upgrades the last year or two and expects to finish this year, Wilson said. Leidos [LDOS] supplies TSA with AIT systems.
The improved threat detection algorithms coupled with lower false alarm rates means fewer passenger pat downs, which improves throughput and the traveler experience.
In its five-year Capital Investment Plan (CIP) provided to Congress in early December, TSA says its plan for the AIT program is to “achieve increased throughput and enhanced detection standards to eliminate most checkpoint bottlenecks associated with passenger screening.” The agency also says it is aiming to develop new, faster and smaller AIT systems.
Within its operations and support account, TSA is seeking $37.2 million in FY ’22 for AIT, and estimates spending $39.2 million, $40.5 million, $42.3 million, and $43.2 million respectively in fiscal years 2023 through 2026 on program operations and support.
The AIT program falls within TSA’s On-Person Screening (OPS) capability effort, which also includes walk-through metal detectors and handheld devices to help resolve alarms in specific areas of a passenger’s body. The agency is seeking $5 million in FY ’22 for on-person detection and Next-Generation AIT and estimates spending $12.7 million, $9.8 million, $7.5 million, and $7.5 million respectively in fiscal years 2023 through 2026, according to the CIP.
During the next four years, TSA says in the CIP it has four primary milestones it expects to achieve for the AIT program as long as it receives the desired funding. The first is the completion of the AIT-1 and AIT-2 enhanced package deployment, which includes sensitive area box, targeted threat algorithm, clear queuing, and dynamic switching. Combined, these capabilities “provide a more focused threat detection capability while providing the operator with tools to maintain throughput,” the CIP says.
The other milestones are enhanced algorithm and wideband retrofit of the current AIT fleet to be competed in FY ’23, next-generation OPS technology development through FY ’24, and next-generation OPS technology testing between FY ’24 and FY ’26.