Aviation security in the future will be capable of recognising passengers from the time they park their car at the airport or arrive on public transport and tracking them in real time through all the public areas and airport processes. Individuals recognised as needing additional security attention can be remotely "tagged" and flagged up to staff.
A mass of innovative future airport security technologies that promise a less intrusive but multi-layered surveillance system was on show near London Gatwick airport on 1 and 2 December. Sponsored by the UK Home Office and hosted by Thales UK at its Crawley headquarters, more than 40 companies displayed their ideas at the exhibition, known as the Instinct Technology Demonstrator 2 (TD2) aviation security project.
The essential difference between airport security today and the potential future systems is that present checks consist of a series of independently conducted single-point operations, whereas in the future they will not only have smarter equipment but will all be integrated.
All intelligence of all types will be co-ordinated in real time through an airport command centre where security staff have at their disposal an array of highly sophisticated surveillance, recognition and tracking technologies.
The TD2 event was organised so visitors could simulate checking in at an airport, obtaining a boarding pass and then trying out the systems themselves.
Since winning the contract to lead TD2 in July, Thales had received more than 300 expressions of interest, leading to 180 submissions from small to medium-sized enterprises, academia and industry: 19 of these were selected by an independent panel of experts to be validated through trials in simulated environments and at real airports around the UK to ensure that they are viable and can make a real and positive contribution to aviation security.
In addition, numerous security equipment companies demonstrated the latest variants of recently adopted technologies, including full-body scanners of the type being tested at Manchester airport and a walk-through explosive detection system on test at Glasgow airport.
Baroness Neville-Jones, Minister for Security, said at the TD2 exhibition: "As we have seen in recent months, aviation is one of the key challenges to our security. Instinct is a vital part of the government's response in seeking innovative solutions to counter current and future threats...our approach to tackling terrorism is strategic and multi-layered."
Source: Flight International