Abbey Normal
Senior Member
I think this is a great plan regardless of the cost. One of my biggest terrorist fears is a shoulder fired missile targeting a commercial airliner. I do wonder how they can test these safely?
Airliners may get missile defenses By Gary Stoller, USA TODAY
Thu Jul 14, 6:50 AM ET
The government will begin testing anti-missile equipment on three airliners next month, a first step toward what could be the most expensive security upgrade ever ordered for the nation's aviation system.
Both Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems will rig out-of-service planes with laser defense systems designed to misdirect shoulder-fired missiles, said John Kubricky, director of the Department of Homeland Security's systems engineering and development office. Test results will be sent to Congress early next year.
It could take years before passenger planes carry protection against missiles, a weapon terrorists might use to shoot down jets and cause economic havoc in the airline industry. The tests will help the nation's leaders decide if they should install laser systems on all 6,800 aircraft in the U.S. airline fleet at a cost of at least $6 billion.
"Yes, it will cost money, but it's the same cost as an aircraft entertainment system," Kubricky says...
Though no plane in the U.S. has ever been attacked, about 35 airliners and other non-military planes have been attacked elsewhere by shoulder-fired missiles since the late 1970s, according to an October 2004 report by the Congressional Research Service. The attacks shot down 24 aircraft and killed 500 people.
A RAND Corp. study this year recommended postponing installation of anti-missile systems. The study assumed, however, that it would cost $11 billion - not the $6 billion Northrop now cites - to equip all U.S. aircraft with anti-missile technology.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=sto...14/ts_usatoday/airlinersmaygetmissiledefenses
Airliners may get missile defenses By Gary Stoller, USA TODAY
Thu Jul 14, 6:50 AM ET
The government will begin testing anti-missile equipment on three airliners next month, a first step toward what could be the most expensive security upgrade ever ordered for the nation's aviation system.
Both Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems will rig out-of-service planes with laser defense systems designed to misdirect shoulder-fired missiles, said John Kubricky, director of the Department of Homeland Security's systems engineering and development office. Test results will be sent to Congress early next year.
It could take years before passenger planes carry protection against missiles, a weapon terrorists might use to shoot down jets and cause economic havoc in the airline industry. The tests will help the nation's leaders decide if they should install laser systems on all 6,800 aircraft in the U.S. airline fleet at a cost of at least $6 billion.
"Yes, it will cost money, but it's the same cost as an aircraft entertainment system," Kubricky says...
Though no plane in the U.S. has ever been attacked, about 35 airliners and other non-military planes have been attacked elsewhere by shoulder-fired missiles since the late 1970s, according to an October 2004 report by the Congressional Research Service. The attacks shot down 24 aircraft and killed 500 people.
A RAND Corp. study this year recommended postponing installation of anti-missile systems. The study assumed, however, that it would cost $11 billion - not the $6 billion Northrop now cites - to equip all U.S. aircraft with anti-missile technology.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=sto...14/ts_usatoday/airlinersmaygetmissiledefenses
