AS&E’s vans can be driven past stationary vehicles to scan their contents or parked to see the innards of passing cars and trucks.

The Z Backscatter Vans, or ZBVs, as the company calls them, send a narrow stream of X-rays off and through nearby objects and read which ones bounce back. Absorbed rays indicate dense material such as steel. Scattered rays show less-dense objects that can include explosives, drugs or human bodies.

That capability has made AS&E’s scan vans powerful tools for security, law enforcement and border control. The company, which calls the ZBV its flagship product, sold 89 of the vehicles in the 15 months ending in June at $850,000 apiece, accounting for a sizable chunk of its $224 million in sales for its last fiscal year.

Source

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