A British engineering company that provides X-ray and surveillance technologies to US immigration authorities for monitoring borders.
Smiths Group PLC, headquartered in London, is a multinational engineering firm. The company’s subsidiary Smiths Detection specializes in X-ray and other scanning technologies that are used to screen people and cargo.
Smiths Group provides U.S. government agencies—primarily the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Homeland Security (DHS)—with detection equipment used for airport screening, military operations, and “non-intrusive inspections” at U.S. ports of entry. Between 2003 and July 2024, the U.S. government awarded Smiths Group over $3.5 billion worth of contracts.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) use Smiths Detection X-ray systems. As of July 2024, the agencies hold contracts with Smiths Detection worth at least a potential $89.6 million for "Non-Intrusive Inspections" technology, X-ray equipment, mobile X-ray vans, and other technologies. In 2021, for example, CBP awarded the company, along with Rapiscan and Leidos, a contract for “Multi-Energy Portal” (MEP) X-ray systems for inspecting vehicles at the U.S.–Mexico border. The contract, worth a potential $480 million, is set to end in 2033 and includes equipment maintenance for 10 years. CBP planned to purchase 17 MEPs between 2016 and 2020 as part of its “Large-Scale Non-Intrusive Inspection” program.
In 2021, CBP also awarded Smiths Detection an indefinite contract, which may include additional awards worth a combined $480 million over five years, for X-ray equipment used to screen vehicles crossing the Laredo, Texas, checkpoint. The equipment is capable of detecting objects “hidden or concealed behind dense or heavy materials and inspecting 100 vehicles per hour. The company has stated that, equipped with this technology, CBP “will have the capabilities to efficiently identify and intercept threats and contraband without inhibiting the flow of goods."
In 2018, awarded Smiths Detection a $60.5 million contract for providing maintenance to the agency’s existing scanning and detection equipment. At the time, CBP had thousands of systems—made by Smiths Detection, OSI Systems, and Varex Imaging—installed at more than 350 sites.