• More orders for AS&E's cargo screening vans bring in $4.7 million

    Massachusetts-based AS&E’s popular Z Backscatter Vans are becoming more popular; company receives $4.7 million order for the “drive-by” scanning system, following several other orders in the past month

  • GE sells its Homeland Protection business to Safran for $580 million

    Following 9/11, GE acquired Ion Track (2002) for an undisclosed sum and InVision Technologies for $900 million (2004); the Homeland Protection unit had revenue of $260 million last year, which GE saw as disappointing; CEO of French company Safran: We want to become “a pivotal player in the security market”

  • New detection devices from Smiths Detection

    Smiths Detection shows three new devices for quicker and more reliable detection of biological and chemical agents; soldiers and first responders will also appreciate the light weight and the ability to operate the gear with only one hand

  • Light refraction used to detect explosives or toxins, and identify infections

    The transmission of light can be affected by the suspension of metal particles in a clear medium; researchers are now exploiting this property to construct nanosensors that could be used to detect explosives or toxins, or identify infections

    • view counter

  • Colin Cummings named new ICx technologies CEO

    Cummings will succeed Hans Kobler, who will continue as chairman; Kobler will go after opportunities the company sees from increased government spending; company’s detection unit suffered from delays in DHS business in the fourth quarter

  • New ricin detection test developed

    As little as one-half milligram of ricin is lethal to humans; no antidote is available; two teams of researchers in New York and Georgia develop a test that can accurately detect and quantify the presence of ricin

    • view counter

  • DHS seeks nuclear detection research

    DHS is looking to award $3 million this summer for nuclear detection technology exploratory research that could lead to a dramatic improvement in the U.S. nuclear detection capabilities

  • Metallic nanostructures make security and medical sensors possible

    New sensors could be tailor-made instantly to detect the presence of particular molecules, for example poisons or explosives in transport screening situations, or proteins in patients’ blood samples, with high sensitivity

  • AS&E sells its first gantry security scanner to Pentagon

    AS&E’s proprietary Z Backscatter technology is popular with customers, and the company announces yet another contract, this time with the Pentagon — but: complaint from scanning rival Rapiscan lead the U.S. government to half an earlier order for AS&E’s ZBV Military Trailers, from 68 units to 34 units

  • Rapiscan wins U.K. contract for its mobile cargo scanner

    The company says the Eagle Mobile 4500 can scan shipping containers and trucks in less than twenty minutes while also being capable of penetrating dense cargo at increased inspection rates without impeding the flow of commerce; Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs wants several of these scanners deployed at U.K. ports of entry

  • NYPD wants to expand anti-terror program to midtown

    NYPD wants to duplicate in midtown the measures under way near Ground Zero; these measures will allow allow police to do everything they do downtown — scan license plates, monitor surveillance video cameras, and use radiation and bioterrorism detectors — between 34th and 59th streets, from river to river

  • New RFID technology tracks nuclear materials

    Argonne National Lab’s researchers develop RFID-based method to monitor the environmental and physical conditions of containers of nuclear materials in storage and transportation

  • Hi-G-Tek, Trojan Defense work on global nuclear threat early detection

    Hi-G-Tek and Trojan Defense collaborate on developing a global nuclear threat early detection and warning system; the wireless sensor is designed for rapid reporting of WMD in global shipments

  • GAO: TSA may not meet deadline for cargo checks

    Passenger planes carry about 7.6 billion pounds of cargo a year; all suitcases have been screened since 2002, but cargo has been subject to much looser inspection requirements, raising concerns that terrorists could slip a bomb into a package; TSA was given an August 2010 deadline or guarantee that all cargo carried on passenger planes is being screened

  • DHS's stimulus projects to create 3,000 Jobs

    DHS has received $1 billion for air travel security under President Obama’s stimulus package; money will be used to enhance checked baggage security and liquid threats in carry-on baggage