AI Smart Engines integrated Vnukovo and Koltsovo airports

2025: Launch of automatic passport control points

At the Moscow Vnukovo airport and the Yekaterinburg airport Koltsovo, automatic passport control points equipped with artificial intelligence technologies Smart Engines were launched. The systems solve two tasks at the same time: on the one hand, they allow passengers on international flights to quickly, contactlessly and comfortably pass passport control, and on the other hand, they strengthen security. AI not only instantly recognizes passport data, but also identifies attempts to present fake or invalid documents. Smart Engines reported this on July 23, 2025.

Vnukovo Airport has adopted the experience of Sheremetyevo Airport, where the Sapsan automated passport control system (ASPK) modules with Smart Engines AI have been operating since 2021. After the installation of such modules, the total throughput at the border increased 6 times - up to 2 thousand people per hour around the clock. Following Vnukovo, the technology was introduced by Koltsovo International Airport in Yekaterinburg.

Several proprietary, fully domestic Smart Engines technologies for recognizing and verifying the authenticity of documents are integrated into Sapsan ASPK. The nature-saving technology of optical character recognition GreenOCR extracts data from the main spread of the foreign passport of the Russian Federation. The highest quality and speed of data input is provided with multiple less energy consumption and environmental impact.

To verify documents in the Sapsan ASPK, the Sherlock neural network ensemble is used. This multi-level verification system works simultaneously in the visible, ultraviolet and infrared ranges, carefully analyzing holograms and other protective elements of the document. AI detects fakes of any complexity and quality, ranging from a passport with a modified photo to deepfakes.

The flow of forged documents has become a serious challenge for the state and its critical infrastructure. News about hubs and groups that make dummies appears almost every week. The launch of modernized checkpoints in Moscow and Yekaterinburg is a step towards the serial introduction of domestic AI solutions to ensure security on a federal scale. Our Sherlock is able to detect more than 600 signs of falsifications of identity documents and is guarding the state border of the Russian Federation, "said Vladimir Arlazarov, Director General, Doctor of Technical Sciences.