22 Oct. 2008
A high tech system checking cars and trucks for explosives is now operational at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan, twelve weeks ahead of schedule. The project is part of a series of technologies being deployed by the NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency (NC3A) to counter the threat posed by improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan.
Kabul International Airport and ISAF Headquarters have already been equipped with personnel screening to detect suicide bombers while a truck and cargo screening system is about to become operational at Kabul International Airport the first week of November.
Detecting car bombs poses unique challenges given the complexity of the vehicles and the need to operate remotely. This “non-intrusive” technology allows security personnel to scan incoming vehicles for explosives at safe distance.
While the security staff sits some 200 meters away in a sensor room, the passing cars have to stop briefly under a portal where they are subjected to a series of scanning devices. The various sensors information coming in from the system are then compiled and analyzed in order to provide a “GO-NON GO” statement to the guards.
The whole process is computer-automated, so that all contact with the vehicle can be avoided until the screening is complete.
