AS&E received $4.2 million CBP order for backscatter vans
Deal just a small triumph in a seties of successes in the federal sector; ZBV vans have a unique “drive-by” capability that security planners adore; device was recently deployed to protect the Dalai Lama; radiation detectors useful for border screening
If there is any U.S. government agency not using American Science and Engineering’s (AS&E) Z Backscatter Vans (ZBV), we would like to hear about it. The company is on a tear these days, having this summer received a $6.4 million order from one unnamed government agency for eight of the explosives and radiation-detecting vans, and an additional $42.2 million order for thirty-six of them from another. We also suggested, but could not prove, that the Secret Service was among those using them. Now we hear that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has filed a $4.2 million order for an unspecified number of vans in the hope of using them for screening cars for illegal immigration, illicit substances, and radioactive material.
There are things to note about the ZBV: First, it uses the highly penetrative (and, hence, controversial in certain circumstances) backscatter X-ray detection technology; second, being deployed on a van, the detection system can be moved about quickly to areas where there is a need to investigate suspicious radiation. Moreover — and we really like this — the ZBV offers a unique drive-by detection capability: The ZBV may discretely drive by a suspicious vehicle, and operators inside the ZBV may conduct X-ray imaging while the ZBV drives past suspect vehicles and objects without the persons being beamed noticing anything. This too: For personnel safety in dangerous environments, a remote console is available for operating the system in stationary mode from a distance of up to 500 meters.
-read more in this company news release
