Aviation Security

The FAA is the lead agency for all U.S. Government research in the area of explosives and weapons detection. Today, it is faced with the challenge of countering the increasing sophistication of terrorists by developing and using superior technology and systems designed to thwart terrorist activities and render ineffective terrorist attempts to sabotage civil aircraft.

The FAA has created an aggressive security research and development program dedicated to developing, testing, and deploying new aviation security technologies to airports and air carriers around the world. This program conducts research, development, and test and evaluation activities in the areas of explosive and weapons detection for checkpoint, checked luggage and cargo, human factors, aircraft hardening, and airport security technology integration.

The agency's research and development efforts identify and perfect new technologies for predicting, detecting and mitigating threats. Security is being enhanced already, through a combination of several different aviation security technologies into a single system. By 2010, integrated systems that are able to perform functions such as passenger screening will be contained in a single-package element, and these integrated elements will be combined into an integrated system that will constitute the security system of the future.