Hi-Tech Security for Airport Checks

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will begin testing millimeter wave imaging machines, as well as additional backscatter machines, at airport security checkpoints in Phoenix, Los Angeles, and New York-JFK in the coming months. These passenger imaging technologies enable TSA to screen passengers quickly, unobtrusively and without physical contact, detecting contraband concealed under layers of clothing. TSA Administrator Kip Hawley said “millimeter wave and backscatter expand our explosives detection capabilities at the checkpoint, and further testing will allow us to determine the role these technologies can play in the future.” The announcement was made in conjunction with contract awards to American Science & Engineering (backscatter), L-3 Communications (millimeter wave) and Rapiscan Systems (backscatter). The contracts call for each vendor to lease up to five of their systems to TSA for testing in airports for up to six months. Total cost of the initial contracts is approximately $2.3 million, with options to purchase additional units. Backscatter technology has been in place at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport since February, and passengers have been choosing backscatter screening over a physical pat-down by a wide margin. The new contracts allow TSA to expand this testing, and marks the first time millimeter wave technology will be deployed to security checkpoints in the U.S. Once a test and evaluation schedule is finalized, the technology will be evaluated until one or more vendors are chosen for a wider deployment. A millimeter wave image looks like a fuzzy photo negative of a person, and is created when electromagnetic waves are reflected from the body. X-ray backscatter technology uses a narrow, low intensity X-ray beam, scanned over the body's surface at high speed.