In the post-9/11 world, we are constantly on guard. Numerous companies have stepped up to help meet the threats we face daily at our borders, airports, stadiums and ports, and on battlefields across the world. One such company is American Science and Engineering (ASEI:Nasdaq - commentary - research - Cramer's Take). AS&E is a provider of X-ray inspection systems for three major markets: cargo and vehicle inspection; mail, parcel and baggage inspection; and people inspection. ............................................... On the financial side, the company has zero debt and $45 million in cash. Currently it's producing $10 million in cash flow from operations, and it has a ROE of 31%. Revenue has increased quarter over quarter for the past four quarters, and year over year for the past three years. Oppenheimer upgraded AS&E to a buy from hold Wednesday. The company reports earnings Nov. 9. It's reasonable to assume AS&E will benefit from increased government antiterrorism spending, including the Container Security Initiative, TSA automation, threat detection and grants to communities to provide funding for improving capabilities. Most of the governmental funding has yet to be awarded. AS&E's major competitors are Rapiscan Systems, an OSI Systems subsidiary (OSIS:Nasdaq - commentary - research - Cramer's Take), and General Electric (GE:NYSE - commentary - research - Cramer's Take), which is trying to increase its footprint on security. I like AS&E's chances for a couple of reasons. Its patented backscatter technology is surely the future in the detection field, with the future being now. Management has executed well. Many alternative detection technologies have proven to be unreliable in testing. Lastly, AS&E is a pure detection play -- many of its competitors are diversified companies that get a substantial amount of their revenue from unrelated ventures.