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Security Systems Developer Lands IED Detection Contract

A Z Backscatter X-ray image of a briefcase exposes a Glock handgun and plastic and liquid explosives, highlighted in white. (AS&E)

A Z Backscatter X-ray image of a briefcase exposes a Glock handgun and plastic and liquid explosives, highlighted in white. (AS&E)

American Science and Engineering Inc. in Billerica, Massachusetts (AS&E) says it received a multimillion dollar contract for its “Z Backscatter” system from a U.S. government agency for remote improvised explosive (IED) device detection and defeat. The company did not name the agency or the amount of the contract.

The company says the system will use AS&E’s Z Backscatter X-ray technology that provides bomb technicians with the ability to remotely interrogate a suspect device and produce an X-ray image. When the technicians determine that IED components are present, the system will allow the operator to begin neutralizing the device using precise data generated by the system.

AS&E says its Z Backscatter technology provides photo-like images that reveal organic threats and contraband, including explosives, plastic weapons, and drugs. A Z Backscatter image captures data from X-ray photons that are scattered from the object undergoing inspection.

This scattering effect, according to the company’s Web site, is known as “Compton Scattering.” X-ray photons scatter differently when they encounter different types of materials. Compton scattering is material-dependent, with the lower atomic number materials scattering more strongly than the higher numbered ones.

Related: Water Blade Technology Developed to Disable IEDs

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