AS&E adds to summer sales numbers with $42 million explosives detection deal
Z Backscatter Van continues to hold U.S. government’s attention; deal follows a series of multi-million dollar deals with U.S. and Middle Eastern nations; price includes training, service, and labor warranty
When you’re, you’re hot [sic]. Can there be any remaining doubt about American Science and Engineering’s (AS&E) Z Backscatter Van (ZBV) X-Ray Inspection System? Earlier this summer we reported that an unnamed government agency had ordered eight of the vans for $6.4 million; that the company had signed a second deal to provide maintenance and service on a fleet of others; and that an unnamed Middle Eastern law enforcement agency had ordered several ZBVs for $2.3 million. Now we hear that the company has received a $42.4 million order from the U.S. government for thirty-six additional ZBVs, a deal that includes operator training, service, and labor warranty.
The ZBV’s biggest selling point is its agility: its drive-by capability can safely investigate a suspected vehicle or object without lingering near potential explosves, and can do so without arousing suspicion. Consider also the technology involved. Backscatter X-rays were once thought to be the next big thing in airline passenger screening. Privacy concerns, however, put the kibosh on that idea when it was realized that operators were seeing a bit more of the passengers than was neccesary. AS&E, though no doubt disappointed by this turn of events, is making the most of a powerful technology, and doing it to great profit to itself and American soldiers overseas.
-read more in this company news release
