AS&E in $45 million Middle East cargo scanning deal

Published 1 March 2006

As debate is raging in the United States about the security implications of handing over operations in twenty-one U.S. ports to a UAE-based port management company, an unnamed Middle East customs agency has awarded Billerica, Massachusetts-based American Science and Engineering (NASDAQ: ASEI), a developer of X-ray detection technology, a two-phased contract valued at $45 million to use the company’s detection systems to secure strategic borders, seaports, and airports. The first phase of the contract has been funded at $25 million. The contract includes multiple OmniView Shaped Energy Gantry Systems and multiple PalletSearch and ParcelSearch X-ray Inspection Systems.

The OmniView Shaped Energy Gantry System is a multi-view relocatable system combining high-energy transmission inspection and multiple Z Backscatter X-ray views. The combination of technologies allows OmniView high penetration into inspected objects. The system’s scanning platform operates by moving on rails past stationary vehicles and cargo. The system is bidirectional, allowing for approximately two trucks per scan, twenty-four trucks per hour.

-read more in this news release