United Press International,
WASHINGTON: As defense contractors move ahead with prototype systems to protect civilian airliners from shoulder-fired missiles, urgent questions linger unanswered: How much will it cost? Who should pay? And — most urgent of all — is it worth the money?
“On a coast-to-coast flight from New York to San Francisco, every customer would have to pay one dollar more” to be protected by a plane-based missile protection system, said Jack Pledger of Northrop Grumman, who joined a panel last week at the Heritage Foundation. The financially troubled airlines, though, doubt that number, fearing that the already hesitating customers wouldn't accept higher costs.
Shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, also known as MAN-Portable Air Defense Systems or MANPADS, thousands of which are believed to be in the hands of insurgents or terrorists worldwide, are seen by the U.S. government as a major threat to passenger air travel and the commercial aviation industry.
John M. Meenan, senior vice president of the Air Transport Association of America, which represents the major airlines, says there is too much focus on these missiles, which “are only one piece of a much larger mosaic of concern.” He told the Heritage panel he recommended a risk management analysis that considers anti-missile measures as a part of a larger security strategy.
The State Department says that shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles have shot down 25 civilian aircraft since the 1970s, killing 600 people.
“Most of the aircraft that were brought down by MANPADS were small and operated in a war-time environment,” Meenan told United Press International in a telephone interview. “They got shot in countries like Angola, Sudan or Afghanistan. There's never been an attack in the United States and the ATA does not operate in any of these countries.
“We are not saying that it couldn't happen,” Meenan cautioned.
Several large defense contractors are developing anti-MANPADS systems for civilian airliners.
California-based Northrop Grumman offers a system installed under the plane. Military constructor Raytheon, based in Massachusetts, is developing a system to be installed in airports. Both systems detects the missiles and then inteferes with their guidance systems so they miss their target.
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