Airport screening technology has advanced by leaps and bounds since the tragic events of 9/11. In 2005, the Department of Homeland Security ordered the very first batch of five scanners from Rapiscan Systems. Earlier this year, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) awarded L-3 Communications a $164.7 million contract to supply the federal government with the firm’s ProVision millimeter wave (MMW) checkpoint screening system, which uses advanced imaging technology (AIT) to screen for explosives, weapons and other possible threats.
The ProVision screening system has been in use at U.S. airports since 2007. Formerly known as the Whole Body Imager, it uses radio waves to detect potentially dangerous items hidden beneath passengers’ clothing, including a variety of metallic and non-metallic substances.
The number of full-body scanners at the nation’s airports is expected to skyrocket because of growing security concerns. Last summer, the TSA purchased 150 more machines from Rapiscan using $25 million in funding established through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
After receiving its new contract in February, L-3 Communications is working on software upgrades and enhancements to the company’s screening technology that will enable it to detect additional threats to aviation security. ProVision is a sophisticated system that boasts multiple customized levels of privacy protection, unlike other scanners currently in use at American airports. It’s designed to project a three-dimensional, black and white silhouette, making the identity of the screened individual virtually impossible to discern. Additional privacy safeguards include an option for the blurring of facial features and remote viewing of the images away from the passenger area.
More than 200 ProVision systems are already in use throughout the world, protecting embassies, airports, government facilities, prisons, courthouses, commercial enterprises and border crossings.
AIT has revolutionized airport security screening procedures. Systems that implement this technology can detect a variety of objects, including weapons, explosives, narcotics, money, liquids, gels, plastics, metals and ceramics, and they can produce results in as little as 2 to 10 seconds, screening an average of 200 to 400 people per hour. The technology doesn’t use X-rays or ionizing radiation, instead operating through MMW radio frequency signals that are 10,000 times lower than those produced by commercial radio frequency devices.
The TSA expects to acquire and deploy 1,800 units AIT units in American airports by 2014. The technology is rapidly expanding, both in its use and its capabilities, but it still has some shortcomings, including privacy concerns, high costs and an inability to detect low-density substances or objects concealed in body cavities. To meet those needs, at some point in time we might see the Body Orifice Security Scanner, or the B.O.S.S. chair, being used for enhanced airport screening procedures. That device is currently used in corrections facilities for detecting contraband that inmates have swallowed or inserted into body cavities.
Business has boomed for manufacturers of security imaging products, thanks to the shift toward using high-tech screening devices. The increasing demand for global security clearly demonstrates that whole-body scanning technology is here to stay—seeing through you, to help see you safely through.
Airports that currently use AIT screening systems include:
• Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
• Albuquerque International Sunport Airport
• Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport
• Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
• Denver International Airport
• Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
• Detroit Metro Airport
• Indianapolis International Airport
• Jacksonville International Airport
• McCarran International Airport (Las Vegas)
• Los Angeles International Airport
• Miami International Airport
• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
• Raleigh-Durham International Airport
• Richmond International Airport
• San Francisco International Airport
• Salt Lake City International Airport
• Tampa International Airport
• Tulsa International Airport
