tatp

Latest

  • Startup launches Acro-Pet for detecting homemade explosives

    by 
    Cyrus Farivar
    Cyrus Farivar
    12.19.2006

    One side effect of living in the age of terrorism is that pretty much every week, someone thinks that they've got an explosives detector better than the next guy. Well, Acro, a new Israeli firm has developed the Acro-Pet, which is likely to be among the world's smallest detectors of triacetone triperoxide (TATP). It turns out that TATP-based bombs (like the one found in the shoes of would-be bomber Richard Reid), while only 80 percent as powerful as traditional TNT, are much easier to construct (like, at home) and much more difficult to detect. Acro has just released what appears to be a small pen-sized TATP sniffer that is soon-to-be evaluated by the Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies in the US and in Europe. Just as this product was shrouded in secrecy for a few years before its announcement to the public, Acro is still keeping mum about its price, for now.