United Kingdom Defense Seeks Proposals for Explosives and Weapons Detection
On behalf of the UK’s National Protective Security Authority, the Department for Transport, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, the Home Office, Homeland Security Group, the Metropolitan Police Service, UK Home Office, Border Force, and the Ministry of Justice, the UK MOD seeks proposals from industry and academia for the screening of people and/or their possessions, goods, vehicles, and buildings and areas.
Total funding available for innovative proposals is $4 million. Proposals are expected to reach TRL 2-3 and during initial project development (by May 2024) and reach TRL 5-6 at the conclusion of the project (May 2026).
This UK Cross-Government program has a broad range of operational requirements. While there is already a range of excellent equipment and capable solutions commercially available and in service, there remains an enduring requirement to develop and enhance capabilities, to stay ahead of the threat and keep pace with the rapid rate of change.
Terrorists and other criminals continuously innovate and explore new methods of attack and ways of operating, leading to a diversification in the nature of the threat. As the threat continues to change, exploitation of the latest scientific and technical development enhances operational capability to respond to the evolving landscape.
This program seeks to develop and improve explosives and weapons detection capability across a range of use cases, to enable earlier detection of terrorist and criminal activity. These span across the system: from preventing the illegal flow of precursor materials and firearms crossing the border; to detecting the transportation of explosives and weapons by threat actors between locations; and disrupting the use of explosive and weapons to cause harm.
This program seeks proposals that address the screening of:
• Buildings and Areas
• Goods
• People and/or their Possessions
• Vehicles
Proposals may focus on developing new detection capabilities to add to end-users’ existing suite of equipment. Proposals can develop original ideas or adapt successful technologies. This could include using existing detection capabilities in a wider range of different applications for a broader range of purposes. Technologies could also have a potential dual capability to detect other contraband or threats in addition to the core requirement of explosives and weapons, for example illicit drugs.
Proposals should look to provide tangible technical or operational benefits over the current commercially available equipment. Examples of benefits may include (but are not limited to):
• Improved detection accuracy.
• Improved range of detectable threats.
• Reduced detection screening times, allowing greater throughput.
• Reduction of cognitive and/or physical burden on the operator.
Examples of potential proposals could include, but are not limited to:
• Novel sensors or materials for threat detection.
• Methods to screen multiple items or people at once.
• Enhancing operator decision making, e.g. automated decision making, tools for use with potential multi-input processes.
• Visualization of chemicals to detect trace residues of explosives (and illicit drugs) on surfaces.
• Measurement techniques which could allow identification of objects concealed inside other objects.
• Human and behavioral factors which could be used to improve the security screening.
If you would like to submit an innovative proposal to aid in the detection of explosives and weapons, or to learn more about defense opportunities in the UK, please contact PJ Menner at the U.S. Embassy London via PJ.Menner@trade.gov.