DSA Detection LLC

DSA Detection LLC, a North Andover, Massachusetts-based limited liability company, manufactures and distributes explosive trace detection consumables, security screening equipment, and inert training materials to federal security agencies as a prime contractor on purchase orders under total small business set-aside designations. The company competes predominantly under set-asides; 99% of recent awards are primes, with 271 of 274 prime awards designated as total small business set-asides.

DSA Detection's customer concentration is extreme. The Transportation Security Administration accounts for 198 of 231 awards across all coverage (83% of total awards) with $51.2 million in combined potential value — representing 87% of the vendor's total $58.7 million pipeline. The next-largest customers by award count are the Department of the Navy Naval Sea Systems Command (15 awards, $311 thousand), the Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation Headquarters Division (7 awards, $464 thousand), and the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime (6 awards, $135 thousand). Concentration by dollars is even tighter: TSA and two other DHS components (Office of Procurement Operations and National Protection and Programs Directorate) together account for 91% of combined potential value. This concentration reflects the vendor's specialization in airport and transportation security consumables.

Capability delivery centers on explosive trace detection supplies — sample swabs, sample traps, and detection consumables compatible with Smiths Detection and Leidos ETD equipment across major U.S. airports — and automated security line screening bins for X-ray machines. Representative prime work includes a $86.5 thousand total small business set-aside purchase order from TSA (August 2026) for ETD supplies (swabs and traps) to Bradley International, Harry Reid International, Phoenix Sky Harbor International, and Tampa International airports; a $37.6 thousand total small business set-aside from TSA (September 2026) for 1,980 screening bins compatible with AT Smiths Detection X-Ray machines for Miami International Airport; and a $74.6 thousand no-set-aside purchase order from DHS Office of Procurement Operations (September 2026) for thirty-five inert covert security testing kits (comprising replica firearms, explosives, electronic devices, and Pelican-like storage cases) for red-team operations. The vendor also supplies inert blasting caps and inert training materials to the FBI Academy and FBI Headquarters Division under total small business set-asides ($39.7 thousand, January 2026, and $48.6 thousand, October 2023).

Vehicle position is concentrated on TSA blanket purchase agreements: 91 task orders under BPA HSTS0407AOSO004 ($3.8 million combined potential value), 51 task orders under BPA HSTS0515AOSO906 ($4.5 million), and 23 task orders under BPA HSTS0512AOSO074 ($5.6 million). A smaller presence sits on the Navy Indefinite Delivery Contract N0016406D8585 (17 task orders, $315 thousand) for detection and measurement instrument supply. Across all vehicles, the awards are short-duration purchase orders with 30-to-90-day delivery windows and firm fixed pricing, reflecting TSA's consumables-replenishment model rather than long-term engineering or service work.

Award volume has grown in the past two years — four awards in 2026 and six in 2025, compared to two in 2024 — though the underlying portfolio is large (278 total awards since 2006). Only two awards carry ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months with combined potential value of $112 thousand, indicating minimal recompete exposure in that window. Combined dollars obligated across all awards ($83 million) exceed combined potential value ($58.7 million), a signal of contract modifications and exercised options over time.

DSA Detection operates as a subcontractor on four named federal service awards: two task orders under Leidos checkpoint maintenance and modification work (February and March 2025) and two under General Dynamics Information Technology threat mitigation and global security engineering support (July 2024 and April 2025). Service Contract Inventory data shows negligible federal service-contract revenue above the $150,000 threshold — 4 SCI records total across fiscal years 2022–2025 with fractional FTE delivery (0.1 in FY2022 and FY2024, 0.0 in FY2025) — indicating that the vendor's federal footprint is goods-based (purchase orders for consumables and equipment) rather than labor-intensive service delivery. The company's award history since 2006 and consistent TSA presence across the past decade establish it as an embedded supplier to the airport security supply chain.

DSA Detection manufactures and distributes its own brand of DHS-approved trace detection consumables used in the operation and maintenance of all explosive trace detection (ETD) instruments commercially available. DSA also manufactures X-ray correct inert explosive simulants, IED training aids, and test articles used in training screeners to identify threats and to verify security checkpoint equipment is properly identifying threats. DSA then combines all its products and training expertise into comprehensive and in-depth classroom training for threat recognition and security equipment operation, tailored to meet all levels of detection.