Triple contract for Smiths Detection

, a division of Smiths Group, has been awarded three two-year contracts totalling $58.3m from a US Government agency for high-energy cargo screening solutions.

Solutions that Smiths Detection will provide under the contracts include three different X-ray screening configurations, which will be used to inspect inbound and outbound shipping containers and trucks: the HCV Mobile, HCV Gantry and HCV Pass-Through systems.

Although the HCV Mobile and HCV Gantry will be deployed in the US, Smiths Detection has not disclosed where HCV Pass-Through, a system still in development, will be used.

‘These detection systems will be used to secure ports by rapidly assisting in the identification of potentially life-threatening or illegal shipments,’ said Stephen Phipson, group managing direct of Smiths Detection.

The HCV Mobile is an entirely mobile unit with an X-ray scan that Smiths Detection says is able to penetrate steel up to 280mm and produce high-resolution images.

The HCV Gantry is a stand-alone unit with an X-ray scanner that is said to deliver energy from 3MeV to 6MeV, allowing it to penetrate steel up to 350mm thick. It is also able to detect radioactive material at the same time as carrying out the X-ray inspection in a single scan.

According to Smiths Detection, both systems can carry out inspections on 25 trucks an hour.