By Calvin Biesecker
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) this month notified industry that it now plans to award initial contracts in July 2011 for the Checked Baggage Inspection Systems (CBIS) program–two months later than previously planned, which refers to the Explosives Detection Systems (EDS) used to screen checked bags at the nation’s airports.
Under the latest plans, the agency would begin putting vendors on a Qualified Products List for the CBIS next June to be followed by indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts to select vendors, TSA says in its latest amendment in the FedBizOpps.Gov web site regarding the ongoing program.
Last December, TSA officials said they had hoped to begin awarding contracts for the new EDS systems by this December although it became apparent earlier this year that the agency wouldn’t meet that schedule. At least part of the reason for the delay has been difficulty by the Department of Homeland Security making explosives stimulants to test screening systems against new detection standards. This, in turn, has led to TSA having to make adjustments.
The latest amendment also says that vendors who have not been certified to threat mass detection requirements established in 2005 will have to meet new detection requirements, excluding those for homemade explosives.
Another reason for the delay is the dispersed testing sites for the EDS equipment. The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology branch tests equipment at its Transportation Security Laboratory in Atlantic City, N.J., TSA tests equipment at its Transportation Security Integration Facility near Washington, D.C., and equipment is also tested at Tyndall AFB, Fla.
“TSA is going to look at a consolidated facility, which would reduce cycle time,” one industry official tells our sister publication Terror Response Technology Report.
Under the CBIS procurement, TSA is dividing EDS systems into three categories: High-Speed, which refers to screening bags at a rate of 900 or more per hour; Medium-Speed, which would screen 400 to 900 bags per hour; and Reduced-Size, which would screen between 100 and 400 bags per hour and also have a system footprint no larger than 26-feet by 6-feet by 6-feet.
TSA currently buys EDS in the Reduced-Size category from SAIC [SAI], through its recent acquisition of Reveal Imaging Technology. In the Medium-Size category, TSA purchases machines from Safran Group‘s Morpho Detection unit and L-3 Communications [LLL].
In the High-Speed category, L-3, OSI Systems [OSIS] Rapiscan division, and SureScan Corp. have all been developing EDS based on a fixed-gantry, which means fewer moving parts and therefore higher speeds and possibly lower operating costs.
The delays, plus the fact that the EDS vendors have to move their equipment to the different test facilities, and have enough machines available for the testing, means continued expenses and higher costs for the companies involved.
Given the delays, TSA is expected to continue purchasing existing EDS models from vendors under the respective sole-source contracts the agency has with companies. How many systems the agency is likely to purchase isn’t known, and will be depend in part on whether it can stick to the latest contract award schedule and how quickly industry can respond with its production ramp for the high-speed machines.