Sabre 4000 Bomb Detection System

Smiths Detection to Supply AMTRAK with Advanced Portable Explosives Detection Systems ; Sophisticated SABRE 4000s to Enable AMTRAK to Screen Passengers, Carry-on Baggage at Train Stations and on Trains for Explosives, Rapidly and Non-Intrusively

20 February 2008

Business Wire

PINE BROOK, N.J. - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Smiths Detection, part of the global technology business Smiths Group, today announces AMTRAK has purchased SABRE 4000advanced detection systems, to enable rapid and non-intrusive screening of passengers, trains and train stations for explosives. The versatile SABRE 4000 hand-held detection system is capable of quickly detecting and identifying explosives and also narcotics, chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals. AMTRAK’s purchase and deployment will only utilize the explosives detection capabilities.

The SABRE 4000 explosive trace detection system is ideally suited to non-intrusive, random screening of passengers and their belongings. The system’s ability to detect explosives in 10 seconds with a complete analysis in 20 seconds enables the screening process to be complete in a minute. In addition, with the dual sample collection capability, the system can be used to collect and review both swabs and vapor samples.

Stephen Phipson, Group Managing Director of Smiths Detection, said: “We are pleased to provide AMTRAK with an explosives detection solution that has a proven track record, which immediately adds a sophisticated and portable layer of security to help keep passengers and busy commuter areas safer.”

Cherif Rizkalla, President, Smiths Detection, Americas, said: “The SABRE 4000s versatility, light weight and accuracy will enable AMTRAK officials to screen passengers both rapidly and non-intrusively. This advanced detection system will enable AMTRAK officials to screen efficiently for explosives in any area of concern, including high-traffic environments such as the terminals and trains themselves.”

Key SABRE 4000 Features

-- Handheld detector uses proven Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS)

technology

-- Rapid detection - 10 seconds (Complete analysis in 20 seconds)

-- Only portable trace detector that can detect all of the following

threats:

-- Explosives

-- Chemical warfare agents (CWAs)

-- Toxic industrial chemicals (TICs)

-- Narcotics

-- Capable of analyzing either trace particle or vapor samples,

-- Allows the operator to apply the ideal sampling technique

for the substance suspected.

-- No sample preparation is required by the operator

-- 4 hour battery life

About Smiths Detection

Smiths Detection is part of the global technology business Smiths Group. It offers advanced integrated security solutions for customers in civil and military markets worldwide and is a leading technology developer and manufacturer of sensors that detect and identify explosives, chemical and biological agents, weapons, and contraband. Its advanced technology security solutions also include Smiths Heimann x-ray imaging systems, millimeter-wave technology and a specialist software supply business for the management of large sensor and video surveillance networks. Separate business units focus on related products for the life sciences, and food manufacturing industries. For more information visit www.smithsdetection.com

About Smiths Group

Smiths is a global technology company listed on the London Stock Exchange. A world leader in the practical application of advanced technologies, Smiths Group delivers products and services for the threat & contraband detection, medical devices, energy and communications markets worldwide. Our products and services make the world safer, healthier and more productive. Smiths Group employs more than 20,000 people in over 50 countries. For more information visit www.smiths.com

TSA Awards Smiths $2M for SABRE 4000s

18 March 2009

Terror Response Technology Report

TRTR

Vol. 5; Issue 6

Smiths Detection has received a $2 million contract from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for an undisclosed number of SABRE 4000 hand-held explosives trace detectors. The order is the largest by TSA for the SABRE 4000s. In fall of 2007 the agency acquired 23 SABRE 4000s for $650,000 to provide a mobile explosives detection capability (TR2, Oct. 17, 2007). The SABRE 4000 can analyze vapor or trace samples. Smiths says the awards was made last November.

Tech Developments

20 August 2008

Terror Response Technology Report

TRTR

Vol. 4; Issue 17

TSA Puts Smiths' IONSCAN 500DT on New ETD Qualified List

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has certified Smiths Detection's IONSCAN 500DT explosive trace detector (ETD) meets new standards created in December 2006, making it the first ETD unit to be put on the agency's new Qualified Products List. Smiths introduced the IONSCAN 500DT in 2005 (TR2, Jan. 12, 2005). The benchtop unit can simultaneously detect explosives and narcotics from a single sample. The 500DT was previously certified by TSA under older ETD standards (TR2, June 14, 2006). TSA says in a recent FedBizOpps announcement that around Sept. 15 it plans to award Smiths a contract for 100 of the 500DTs, including service support.

Apptis Acquires Base One Technologies

Apptis, Inc., a small information technology (IT) solutions firm, has acquired Base One Technologies LTD, a woman owned small disadvantaged business that also provides IT services. The deal gives Apptis a position on the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) EAGLE program, for which Base One services as a prime contractor under Functional Category 5 for Management Support Services. Apptis is a DHS contractor as a small business on the FirstSource program (TR2, Feb. 21, 2007). Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Base One, which is based in New York, will operate as a subsidiary of Apptis, which is based in Northern Virginia.

Smiths to Leverage Torion's Technology

Smiths Detection has partnered with Utah-based Torion Technologies, which is developing miniaturized Gas Chromatography Toroidal Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry (GC-TMS) technology, for the joint development of a next- generation, hand-portable GC-TMS system for the security, defense and emergency responder markets. Smiths says that the use of Torion's proprietary toroidal technology will allow the well established GC Mass Spectrometry technology to be used in a lighter and faster way than is currently the case. Smiths says development of a GC-TMS system will benefit its existing products such as HazMatID, GasID, ResponderR RCI, the SABRE 4000, SABRE-FR and others. "We believe the Torion/Smiths Detection partnership makes sense on multiple levels as it will result in a market-leading instrument that will be critical in combating chemical threats around the world," says Douglas Later, president of Torion. Separately Smiths Detection has appointed Dr. Anthony Policastro as chief scientist of its PROTECT Solutions team. Policastro, formerly of Argonne National Laboratories, has worked on critical infrastructure security and protection for transportation as director of the Program for Response Options and Technology Enhancements for Chemical/Biological Terrorism (PROTECT) since 1997 at the lab. Smiths PROTECT Solutions provides command, control and communications software for integrating CBRNE sensors, digital video cameras for verification of detector activations, real-time modeling of hazard zones, firemen jacks for outside responders to view threats before they enter a facility, and concept of operations plans and training programs.

Spectrum San Diego, QRSciences to Merge

Diversified Opportunities [DVOP], which is a trading shell largely owned by Australia's QRSciences Holdings Ltd., is acquiring QRScience's subsidiary QRSciences Corp. and a separate company, Spectrum San Diego, Inc., to create a technology company with scanning and imaging products serving the security market. The ownership arrangements are a bit unusual. QRSciences Corp., which is based in San Diego, owns about one-third of Spectrum San Diego. The cash price of the deal, taking consideration of QRScience's partial ownership of Spectrum San Diego, is $9.3 million. The combination brings together several products and technologies, including Spectrum San Diego's CastScope, which is being acquired by the Transportation Security Administration to allow aviation checkpoint screeners search for concealed threats when screening passengers with casts, braces, heavy bandages and prosthetics. Spectrum is also developing another product called CarScan, which is being funded through the Technical Support Working Group, to allow vehicles approaching a checkpoint or gate to drive slowly and safely through the inspection system. CarScan is in Phase II, which involves the construction and field testing of a prototype. QRSciences Corp. has developed SentryScope, a high-resolution 180-degree camera that is deployed at international locations for security monitoring of large crowds and large areas. The companies also have other technology and intellectual property, including Spectrum's royalty generating patents currently licensed to General Electric [GE] for use in a shoe scanning system. Spectrum's President Steven Smith years ago helped develop backscatter X-Ray technology used in OSI Systems'[OSIS] Secure 1000 whole body imaging system.

Smiths Detection device can screen for peroxide-based explosives

John M. Doyle

2 July 2008

Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Volume 227, Issue 2

Smiths Detection has a new hand-held vapor detector that can screen for volatile chemicals like peroxide that are often used in homemade bombs, the Pine Brook, N.J. company says.

The SABRE EXV (for explosives vapor detector) uses ion mobility spectrometry technology to detect and identify explosive substances – including peroxide-based chemicals – in as little as 10 seconds.

The SABRE EXV is a variant of the Sabre 4000, which is widely used by the U.S. and other militaries for explosive detection, Brook Miller, a Smiths Detection vice president, told Aerospace DAILY July 1. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is testing SABRE technology at airports and the TSA’s lab in Atlantic City, N.J., Miller said. The technology is also being used at airports in Britain, he said.

The battery-operated device weighs about 7 pounds and can be connected to a PC for data viewing and programming. The system takes air samples and sounds an alarm when an explosive vapor is detected. Price per unit is in the “$20,000 range,” Miller said.

Peroxide-based chemicals found in common household products have been used in many improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which are relatively easy to make and difficult to detect. The alleged plotters in a scheme, uncovered in London in 2006, to blow up U.S. and Canada-bound trans-Atlantic airline flights are accused of planning to conceal homemade bombs using peroxide-based explosives

Security Middle East Magazine.

DETECTIVE WORK The ability to detect minute traces of explosive substances - or substances that can form part of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) - can provide valuable protection in a wide range of situations. Security Middle East looks at the latest developments in hand-held and mobile explosives detection From customs and border points, embassies, government offices and high profile public sites, through to private businesses – explosive detection equipment can form an essential line of defence against terrorism and other potential bomb threats. Designed to identify minute trace particles of suspect materials on people, clothing and objects, a range of devices are now available in hand-held, portable or fixed (eg table-top) models. These detectors can not only identify potential threats and help to find evidence during investigations, but also make it harder for successful terrorist attacks to be mounted, and even act as a deterrent. In day-to-day operations in areas such as mail sorting rooms and baggage handling areas, so-called non-contact trace detection can be used to quickly identify and isolate suspect items without significantly delaying operations. Peroxide-based threats Acro’s recently launched ACRO-P.E.T. is a pen-like tester (pictured above) that has been designed to rapidly detect peroxide-based explosives on contact. Acro claims it is capable of detecting less than 50 micrograms (0.00005g) of Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP). The US army recently ordered 300 of the devices to detect home-made bombs. TATP has been identified in a number of terrorist cases but can be hard to detect when found in a colourless, liquid form. Peroxide was a key ingredient in the home-made bombs that killed 52 people in London two years ago and Acro say it is increasingly being used by terrorist organisations around the world. Basic ingredients for peroxide-based bombs are available from most DIY stores, often in bulk. Newest dual-mode option The MobileTrace simultaneous dual-mode handheld detector, launched this month by GE, is designed to expand the range of target explosives that can be identified in a single sample. The company’s patented ITMS technology (Ion Trap Mobility Spectrometry) offers the level of explosives (and narcotics) detection used at maximum security locations such as military bases and border crossings. While most explosives have negative ion affinity, says GE, some important exceptions have positive ion affinity. The MobileTrace uses the same detection system, in a hand-held model, which is deployed in its desktop itemiser device. This system detects both. Historically hand-held devices have worked in only one mode at a time, and require components to be changed and additional samples to be taken for testing both types of ions. The MobileTrace gives users the flexibility to swipe surfaces for trace particles or to analyse vapours. ‘Sniffer’ technology Fido explosives detectors use proprietary amplifying fluorescence polymers (AFP) to detect trace levels of explosive materials in parts per quadrillion (ppq). The company claims that this level of detection is comparable to that of highly trained explosives detection canines, the gold standard in explosives detection technology. The AFP detection technology used in the Fido explosives detectors was designed for use as an explosives ‘sniffer.’ As such, the Fido can detect the vapour emanating from explosive materials without having to come in contact or direct line of sight with the explosive device itself. The Fido XT can be configured in multiple formats to accommodate the needs of most explosives detection applications. The system includes a control unit and separate sensor head where actual explosives detection takes place. These two components can be connected directly for one-handed explosives detection operations or via tether for added manoeuvrability. In addition, the sensor head can be mounted for benchtop applications. Due to its size and trace vapour detection capability, the Fido XT can be easily integrated as a payload onto robotic vehicles for remote explosives detection applications. Dependent upon the robot, this can be accomplished either by inserting the entire system onto the robotic platform or by attaching the sensor head to a robotic arm. The Fido provides real time explosives detection for practical screening operations. Actual detection of explosive materials occurs in the sensing element and has a reversible detection response, allowing it to be reused many times. After a positive explosives detection reading, the Fido takes only seconds to before screening the next target. Detection results are displayed in real time on the LCD screen and through an optional audio signal similar to that of a Geiger counter. Electro-optical ionization devices Implant Sciences Corporation recently confirmed an order for eight of its Sniffer handheld explosives detectors from Iraq’s Ministry of the Interior. Implant Sciences uses ion beam technology to develop, manufacture and market products, including trace explosives detection systems for security and defence applications. The company’s Quantum Sniffer employs a novel technology for the detection of explosives vapours that it claims is more sensitive than alternative detection devices. The technique detects the presence of parts per trillion (ppt) of explosives molecules, without physical contact and in real time. The patented vortex sample acquisition system collects the sample, ionizes it with an electro-optical ionization scheme, identifies the sample via standard ion mobility technology and, if an explosive is present, will produce a visual and audible alarm. The LCD will display the identity of the explosive present and the audible alarm can be switched off if required. Quantum Sniffer is claimed to be the only explosives trace detector with true automatic self-calibration – no user intervention is required. Another option, Implant Science’s QS-H150 portable explosives trace detector, was developed in conjunction with the US Navy. The device is capable of detecting trace amounts of most commercial and military explosives, including RDX, PETN, HMX, TNT, black powder and ammonium nitrate at nanogram level concentrations. The detection is real time with immediate cleardown, which dramatically improves throughput. The instrument is non-contact and does not use expensive consumables. The QS-H150 uses the company’s proprietary opto/electrical ionization technique rather than a radioactive source for ionization and hence there is no need to deal with complicated NRC regulatory requirements. Wide ranging detection The SABRE 4000 from Smiths Detection is claimed to be the only portable trace detector that can detect threats from explosives, chemical warfare agents, toxic industrial chemicals or narcotics. It can do so in approximately 20 seconds. With a cold time start of 10 minutes and weighing approximately 7 lbs, including the 4-hour battery, the SABRE 4000 is a small, powerful tool for use against terrorism and drug trafficking. With the added detection capability, new features such as the colour TFT display and standard 4-hour battery, the SABRE 4000 is marketed as the smallest, lightest hand-held trace detector available, capable of detecting and identifying multiple threats. Proper sample collection is key to the success of any trace detector, says the company. The versatile SABRE 4000 is capable of analyzing either trace particle or vapour samples, allowing the operator to apply the ideal sampling technique for the substance suspected. For example, most explosive and narcotic substance do not have a strong vapour presence and in the real world are very difficult to detect by vapour. Therefore, the most reliable collection and analysis method for those substances is particle collection. By contrast, the nature of chemical agents and toxic industrial chemicals makes vapour sampling more appropriate for these substances. The SABRE 4000’s ability to analyse either trace particle or vapour samples lets the operator decide which sample collection method will yield the most accurate analysis results .