TSA Gold+ is described in a February 2026 TSA briefing document as a new screening architecture in which private capital, technology, and workforce operate airport checkpoints under TSA regulatory oversight without the federal officer present. The briefing document was obtained by a TSA officer at Orlando International Airport and bears official TSA branding and a dedicated program email address, TSAGoldPlus@tsa.dhs.gov. Gold+ has not been disclosed in any of Acting Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill's four congressional testimonies in FY2026.
Understanding what Gold+ would look like in practice requires understanding the technology that makes it operationally viable. That technology is called Gigaplex, and the company positioned to deliver it has significant existing ties to TSA's screening infrastructure.
What Gigaplex Is
Gigaplex is a remote security screening system that transmits X-ray baggage images generated at airport checkpoints to offsite viewing locations in real time. A security officer at a centralized facility can review images from checkpoints at airports in different cities or countries without being physically present at any of them. The system uses open architecture compatible with any CT scanning equipment that meets standard imaging specifications, and reduces network utilization by 70 percent through image optimization. The system's developers state it enables continuous belt operation at checkpoints, meaning the scanning equipment does not need to pause while an officer reviews each image on-site.
Gigaplex Joint Venture Structure
Gigaplex was developed with funding from the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate Small Business Innovation Research program. It is a joint venture among three companies:SureScan Corporation, core programming expertise in image processing and networking
The Chertoff Group, advanced networking, cybersecurity, and screening subject matter expertise. Founded by former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff.
Xcelerate Solutions, cybersecurity, software engineering, and screening subject matter expertise. Parent company of VMD Corp, an active TSA SPP screening contractor.
Gigaplex was added to the GSA Schedule under contract GS-35F-250GA on July 1, 2025, making it directly procurable by federal agencies including TSA without a separate competitive procurement process. In April 2026, Gigaplex was publicly demonstrated at the Passenger Terminal Expo, transmitting live baggage screening data between Boston, Massachusetts and London, England over standard WiFi infrastructure.
The TSA RFI and the Congressional Authorization Question
TSA issued the Checkpoint of the Future RFI in July 2025, the same month Gigaplex became available on the GSA Schedule. The RFI solicited industry proposals for technology-driven transformation of the airport checkpoint and generated 122 published questions and answers.
TSA also published a Third-Party Testing RFI in August 2025 under solicitation number TSA25-04-0502, which names Gold+ as a new acquisition category and solicits industry participation in testing checkpoint technology under the Gold+ framework. Neither RFI has been the subject of congressional testimony. Gold+ does not appear by name in the FY2027 DHS Congressional Budget Justification, released March 31, 2026. The White House OMB budget document released April 3, 2026 contains a heading titled TSA Privatization but does not reference Gold+ by name.
Xcelerate Solutions and VMD Corp
Xcelerate Solutions, one of Gigaplex's three founding joint venture partners, is also the parent company of VMD Corp, an active SPP screening contractor. VMD holds confirmed TSA screening contracts at four airports with combined potential value approaching one billion dollars, including the largest SPP contract in the available public record, a task order at San Francisco International Airport with a potential value of $723 million awarded September 19, 2025. Xcelerate's own published materials state that VMD employs more than 700 aviation security professionals at 13 airports across the United States.
VMD also holds a separate $13.1 million contract with TSA's Enterprise Information Technology office providing security engineering and compliance support for TSA mission critical systems.
The March 2026 Conference
On March 27, 2026, the ACI-NA Airports@Work Conference in Chicago included a session on the official agenda titled TSA Gold+ and One-Stop Security. TSA officials Andy Haskins, Innovation Program Manager, and Keith Mueller, Director of Mitigation Operations, were scheduled to appear. A director from VMD Corp, Trey Huelskamp, was confirmed present through a VMD corporate LinkedIn post.
On the same day, the conference agenda listed two closed sessions titled PS&S Airports Only with TSA, with TSA's Steve Lorincz and Susan Tashiro scheduled as speakers.
The Disclosure Gap
Two days before the scheduled Gold+ session, on March 25, 2026, McNeill testified before the House Homeland Security Committee. Gold+ was not disclosed. Her subsequent April 16, 2026 testimony also did not disclose it.DHS funded the development of Gigaplex through its own Science and Technology Directorate. One of the three companies that owns a stake in Gigaplex also owns TSA's largest SPP screening contractor. A director from that contractor was confirmed on the panel presenting Gold+ to airport executives in March 2026. TSA's own officials were scheduled to present alongside him. Congress has not been briefed on Gold+ in any of the Acting Administrator's four FY2026 testimonies.
The Open Questions
Against Giants has raised the following questions in congressional briefings and written correspondence. None have been answered on the record by TSA.
Questions for the Record
What statutory authority governs TSA Gold+? The Aviation and Transportation Security Act permits private screening only through sections 44919 and 44920. Gold+ has been presented publicly as structurally distinct from SPP. If it does not operate under either of those sections, it has no established statutory home in ATSA and the pay and workforce protections those sections carry do not apply to any workforce operating under it.Why has Gold+ not been disclosed in any of McNeill's four FY2026 congressional testimonies, given that TSA officials were scheduled to present the program publicly to airport executives in March 2026?
What role, if any, does Gigaplex play in TSA's Gold+ architecture, and has TSA assessed whether the relationship between Gigaplex's joint venture structure and VMD's SPP contract portfolio raises conflict of interest concerns in the procurement or program development context?
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