The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is looking to get more life out of the explosive detection systems (EDS) it has deployed over the years since 9/11 by installing upgrades in the field if it is cost effective, John Sanders, the agency’s assistant administrator for Security Capabilities, said at the annual American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) Aviation Security Summit earlier this month.
For years TSA and industry officials have said that the life expectancy of EDS systems was between seven and 10 years, although some industry officials at the AAAE event told Defense Daily that this number was somewhat artificial. Still, the agency had expected to begin a major recapitalization effort several years ago to replace EDS systems that had been installed in airports in the aftermath of 9/11.
The field upgrades consist of things like updating software and replacing the rotating gantries, which circle around the bags to obtain multiple slices of the contents of the bags, Sanders says.
TSA is doing more research to see if it needs to assign a number to the life expectancy of EDS systems or can they go “on and on,” Mario Wilson, the deputy division director for Checked Baggage Technology under Sanders, said at the AAAE event. He said TSA is now focused on a “useful life that is defined by technical obsolescence.” That means if the system can still detect threats, meet an airport’s needs, “then it’s still useful. The age of that equipment is irrelevant…if it’s not broken all the time.”
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| Rapiscan’s RTT fixed gantry EDS Photo: OSI Systems |
TSA currently buys EDS systems from three companies, L-3 Communications [LLL], Safran Group’s Morpho Detection, Inc., and Leidos [LDOS], which all supply systems based on rotating gantries. L-3, along with OSI Systems [OSIS] Rapiscan Systems division, and SureScan Corp. have developed fixed gantry systems that TSA has been evaluating.
The fixed gantry EDS systems offer the prospect of high-speed screening, up to 1,800 bags per hour, which means airports might need to have fewer systems integrated with their baggage handling systems for explosives screening. The manufacturers of these systems have also said that the life-cycle costs would be lower than the rotating gantry-based systems because they have fewer moving parts.
Sanders said there is “value” in having high-speed systems at some airports “but you have to look at the total cost to the government.” There are airports where installing high-speed EDS systems “does not make a lot of sense,” he said.
Wilson also said that risk-based security initiatives will help determine if some EDS systems should be upgraded or replaced with newer systems.
TSA still plans to acquire high-speed systems, but not a lot, and these must still go through the testing and evaluation process, Sander said. As a result, the companies developing the fixed-gantry systems are targeting them for medium-speed applications. These companies are also eyeing international markets, where they are expected demand to be greater for their systems.
In FY ’13, TSA did not buy a lot of EDS systems because the agency was focused on working out agreements with airports for upgrades to their baggage handling systems. In FY ’14, Wilson said the agency plans major EDS purchases, mostly medium-speed systems and to a lesser degree reduced-size systems.
Wilson also said it is possible that high-speed systems will be ready by late FY ’14 but believes it will be FY ’15 before TSA begins buying these EDS systems.
Wendy Reiter, director of Security and Emergency Preparedness at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, said her airport is interested in high-speed systems because they are seen as more “economical.” She likes the idea of the high-speed systems being ready in FY ’14.
Wilson said that TSA is actively considering airports where having high-speed systems makes sense for the initial operational testing. If that testing goes well, those EDS systems can remain in place, he said.
Even if high-speed systems make sense for some airports, TSA still will have to determine if it can afford to buy the systems, Wilson said.