Leidos has been awarded a prime contract by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Office of Field Operations and Cargo Conveyance Security to provide a non-intrusive inspection (NII) system for high-energy rail infrastructure. The multiple award indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract has an ordering period up to five years beginning July 1, 2020, with an approximate total value of $379 million. The NII components will be integrated in Vista, California and deployed to CBP high-energy rail inspection sites nationwide.
“The men and women of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection are on the front lines of safeguarding the flow of commerce and we are honored to support their important mission,” said Jim Moos, Leidos Civil Group president. “This effort requires screening technology that is fast, frictionless and fully integrated. We are proud to provide this non-intrusive inspection technology and support CBP as they screen nearly $180 billion of rail freight each year.”
Part of CBP’s mission is to facilitate legitimate international trade by inspecting cars, trucks, railcars, and sea containers as well as personal luggage, packages, parcels, and flat mail using NII systems. This screening helps CBP effectively and efficiently detect and prevent inadmissible persons, contraband, unreported currency, guns, ammunition, and other illegal merchandise from being smuggled into the country.
Under the contract, Leidos will integrate, deploy, and train CBP staff to use its VACIS IR6500 high-energy rail inspection system. The system includes container optical character recognition (OCR), a railcar identification system (RFID), conveyance cameras, a control subsystem display extensible to biometrics, and is capable of integrating radiation detection equipment (RDE). Going forward, the VACIS IR6500 system will upgrade the Leidos gamma-ray technology in use by CBP for 20 years. Leidos says improved material discrimination and image resolution will double the penetration of the old gamma ray systems, enabling CBP officers to identify more threats.
