Cargo Supply Chain Technology Development: Secure locks assessment and qualification

The mitigation of threats posed by the potential introduction of improvised explosive devices into passenger aircraft via the cargo vector is the subject and driver of the Cargo Supply Chain Integrity Technology (CSIT) Research, Development, Test and Evaluation project undertaken jointly by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Department of Homeland Security´s (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate. Recognizing the security capability gap represented by unscreened cargo loaded into/ carried in the holds of passenger aircraft, section 1602(a) of the “Implementing the Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007”, (Public Law 110-53) mandated TSA to establish, by August 3, 2010, a system to screen 100% of all cargo shipped via passenger aircraft. The objective of the project is to develop standards and a process to evaluate and qualify technologies used to insure the security of screened cargo in transit to loading aboard aircraft.