DHS Commissioner Highlights Rapiscan's Mobile Eagle

June 6, 2005
Rapiscan X-ray device used for port/container security at Port of Baltimore

HAWTHORNE, Calif. -- Rapiscan Systems, a division of OSI Systems, Inc., announced that its advanced Mobile Eagle X-ray technology was highlighted by Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") Commissioner of Customs and Border Patrol Robert C. Bonner and Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich during a scheduled visit to the Port of Baltimore on Thursday June 2nd. The event was a demonstration of the DHS's initiative to improve port security nationwide.

As one of the largest cargo ports in the United States, Baltimore receives approximately 140,000 containers annually. The Rapiscan Systems Eagle has been scanning containers at the Port of Baltimore since January 2005.

DHS Commissioner of Customs and Border Patrol Robert C. Bonner stated at the demonstration, "Today the Eagle has landed in the Port of Baltimore! This powerful X-ray imaging machine that we unveil today is part of our strategy developed after 9/11 to better detect the potential for terrorists concealing weapons inside one of these containers. The Eagle helps us accomplish two goals, our twin goals, achieving increased security against the terrorist threat, and doing so without shutting down the flow of trade and damaging our economy. The Eagle can take an X-ray image of a 40 foot container in less than a minute."

President of Rapiscan Systems Ajay Mehra stated, "As the Commissioner stated, the Eagle's value proposition of increasing the number of containers inspected without interrupting the flow of commerce is a tremendous advantage for both port and border security not only for the citizens of the state of Maryland, but also on a domestic and global level. Rapiscan will continue to invest in the development of new technologies and work closely with the DHS Customs and Border Patrol to further assist in securing our nation's ports and border crossings."

The Rapiscan Mobile Eagle X-ray technology was designed under the direction of the DHS Customs and Border Patrol specifically to address port security needs. The Eagle is capable of penetrating dense cargo containers, producing high-quality images immediately available to an on-site inspector or an inspector viewing a transmitted image from a remote facility. This user-friendly system meets U.S. and international radiation safety standards and is safe to operate even in a crowded seaport or at a border crossing. The system has also been deployed at the Port of Savannah in Georgia and on the US-Mexico land border crossing in El Paso, Texas.