Pentagon buys WMD detection system

Decision Sciences has been awarded a Pentagon contract to provide equipment to detect weapons of mass destruction.

The contract, valued at up to $5.3 million, is for Decision Sciences' Multi-Mode Passive Detection System Generation 3 (MMPDS GEN3), which uses cosmic ray tomography to detect shielded and unshielded nuclear and radiological threats, as well as explosives, narcotics, cigarettes and other contraband. The contract was awarded by the Defense Department's Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office.

The system scans in 3-D "all types of vehicles, cargo containers and other conveyances," according to a Decision Sciences news release.

"In addition to being able to detect and identify radiological threats and known contraband, unlike other systems on the market the MMPDS GEN3 is also 'trainable' and incorporates advanced machine learning algorithms. As the nature of the threat or contraband type changes, MMPDS GEN3's system library can therefore be updated to identify and pinpoint the location of illicit materials or unusual contraband," the company said.

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