Screening at Speed

The  Screening at Speed (SaS) Program is pursuing transformative R&D activities that support a future vision for increasing security effectiveness while dramatically reducing wait times and improving the passenger experience.

TSA requires detection technologies that effectively and efficiently screen people for concealed explosive threats. Currently, as people move through checkpoints they must remove outerwear, footwear, belts and headwear, slowing the line and decreasing public acceptance. False alarms are frequent, causing inconvenient and intrusive pat-downs and searches. SaS is developing technology that would enable the scanning of walking passengers, acquiring data through most garments and reliably detecting a wider range of prohibited items regardless of concealment.

The SaS Program will also integrate these screening tools with wide-area surveillance, airport risk assessment modeling, high-speed data processing, risk-based screening, and other technologies to further reduce the overall risk throughout an airport. As SaS technologies enable the rapid screening of passengers and their belongings, it is anticipated that other operational uses, such as at special events and stadiums, and in mass transit, will become feasible.

Learn more about our R&D mission and discover how you can Work with S&T to help strengthen the nation's homeland security!