All commercial aircraft are targets
unfortunately and it will not be long until some hothead takes advantage of
this gapping security hole. At least we
now have the technology to offset it.
After all the proper response to 9/11 was the technology of a secure
cabin door to protect pilots. That ended
the threat itself.
This is a much more difficult challenge
but we at least have a first working system.
That is good news.
I hope that we never see one of these
birds targeted.
Israel’s Commercial Jets Will Soon Be
Firing Lasers
Israel
is finally ready to combat shoulder-launched missiles and they’re going to
do it with lasers.
Israel’s
Ministry of Defense announced Wednesday that SkyShield, developed by Israeli
defense contractor Elbit Systems, had successfully completed testing and is
certified for commercial use to combat the threat of man-portable
surface-to-air missile systems (MANPADS) by combining advanced laser detection
and disruption technologies.
C-MUSIC,
the commercial version of SkyShield, integrates laser technology with a
thermal camera to deflect incoming threats by jamming. After
detecting incoming missiles with an infrared sensor, it fires a laser that
disrupts the missile’s navigation system, taking it off course and detonating
the missile a safe distance from the aircraft.
“SkyShield has been validated under the most
complex and sophisticated testing conditions ever conducted in Israel and is
now ready to protect Israeli airlines,” said Israel Air Force Brig. Gen. Eitan
Eshel, director of research and development at Israel’s Defense Ministry.
The technological
advancement is a direct response to the 2002 attempt by terrorists in
Mombasa, Kenya in which two surface-to-air missiles were fired at an
Israeli charter planeshortly after takeoff. The missiles missed
their target and its more than 250 passengers, but the event prompted
then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to call for an urgent defense response.
Although the project
was supposed to be expedited, it was delayed for several years because of
infighting among competing defense firms and government
agencies over which one would foot the bill. Once the contract was awarded to
Elbit Systems, completion of the project took about three years.
The
system will first be implemented on all El Al airliners, but Elbit says it has
contracts with several other countries around the world.
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