Smiths Secures $25 Million X-ray Systems Contract

WASHINGTON — Smiths Detection will deploy its advanced X-ray screening systems to help protect federal government buildings throughout the United States after the Federal Protective Service agreed a five-year blanket purchase agreement for critical infrastructure security systems.

The Federal Protective Service, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security and an operational division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, plans to deploy the X-ray systems at public entrances and entry points, service and loading docks, mailrooms and other accessible areas to augment existing protective measures.

Under the multi-year contract, which has an estimated value of up to $25 million, Smiths Hi-Scan 6040 line of X-ray systems will be used to enhance threat detection capabilities in the screening of the personal belongings of employees and visitors as they enter secure federal buildings. Units will also be used to screen packages and deliveries as they arrive at secure facilities.

Smiths Detection, which is part of the U.K.-headquartered global technology firm Smiths Group, will deliver and install the systems over the course of the five-year program. Smiths’ U.S. operations are based in Pine Brook, N.J.

In related news, the company announced a $10.6 million contract to supply mobile X-ray cargo inspection vehicles to the U.S. government. The units will be deployed by Customs and Border Patrol to inspect inbound and outbound shipping containers and trucks at ports of entry throughout the United States.

Manufactured at Smiths’ Alcoa facility in Tennessee, the HCV inspection vehicles utilize high-energy X-ray technology to scan trucks, shipping containers and other vehicles for weapons, explosives and narcotics.  

The mobile screening units, which have a throughput of up to 25 trucks/containers per hour, are designed to improve the scope, effectiveness, efficiency, speed and reliability of threat detection screening through enhanced imaging resolutions, says Stephen Phipson, president of Smiths Detection.

Smiths manufactures a range of security technology solutions for the civil and military markets and operates in more than 50 countries. The group’s threat detection product lines include screening systems that can identify explosives, chemical and biological agents, weapons and contraband.