The Transportation Security Administration this week announced $52.3 million in security technology contracts as it expands the use of "advanced" X-ray screening, explosive detection and liquid scanners, among others.
Among the new technologies, TSA said it invested in 200 handheld bottle liquid scanners that "differentiate liquid explosives from common, benign liquids." TSA said the scanners have been or will be piloted at airports in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami and Newark. TSA officials in a statement, however, said the devices do not suggest an imminent change to the liquid ban.
TSA administrator Kip Hawley last month told
BTN that the end of the liquid ban would require new technologies, estimating that "the earliest that new technology deployments are even possibly available would be probably about a year from now, but we don't have the equipment now, so it's hard to say
(BTN, Sept. 24)."
Meanwhile, TSA is expanding use of "high-definition, multi-view" X-ray systems, tested at Albuquerque, Los Angeles International, New York JFK and Washington Reagan with an order for 125 units.
TSA also purchased 12 "passive millimeter wave technology" units, which detect "the waves naturally emitted by the human body and determine if there is anything concealed on the human body." Other technologies include devices specifically tailored to scan "casts, braces, heavy bandages or prosthetics."
TSA said, "Many contracts allow for additional purchases over the next two years, and TSA will establish a deployment schedule for initial purchases in the coming weeks and months."