Transportation Minister Meir Sheetrit announced the successful test of the Israeli-developed FlightGuard system. It was manufactured by Israel Aircraft Industries and Elta together with the Defense Ministry and the General Security Service. The Transportation Ministry oversaw and funded the development.
According to U.S. State Department estimates, shoulder-fired missiles have downed 25 airplanes and killed over 600 people since the 1970s. The weapons – termed MANPADs (man-portable, air defense systems) – are a favorite among terrorist groups, as they are relatively inexpensive and easy to transport and conceal. MANPADs are widely considered to pose a genuine threat to passenger, commercial, and military aircraft around the globe.
"The FlightGuard system," Sheetrit said, "has completed its development stage, and it has proven its reliability and fine performance. The system is an important and necessary new element in the protection of civilian aviation passengers against terrorism."
An official of Northrop Grumman reported on Friday that the MANPAD threat has grown over the past year. He said that just recently, there have been three missile-related reports: an American Airlines pilot in Los Angeles said he saw a missile fired at his plane; an attempt to smuggle Chinese-made missiles into the U.S.; and a terror group in France vowed to down a passenger plane with Russian-made missiles.
The Northrop Grumman Infrared-Countermeasures Business Director, Jack Pledger, told a Heritage Foundation conference that such missiles need not be used only near an airport. "They can be used any time the target plane is 15,000 feet and under," he said, "which means within a 300-square mile area around a runway."
Israel will be in contact in the coming days with airports around the world, hoping to receive their permission for El Al FlightGuard-equipped planes to land on their runways.
The basic idea of the defensive systems is to create another source of heat, in addition to the plane's engines, so that the heat-guided missiles will be misled and diverted away from the plane. The FlightGuard developers are about to begin work on another system, based on electro-optics, that will use a laser ray to divert enemy missiles.
According to U.S. State Department estimates, shoulder-fired missiles have downed 25 airplanes and killed over 600 people since the 1970s. The weapons – termed MANPADs (man-portable, air defense systems) – are a favorite among terrorist groups, as they are relatively inexpensive and easy to transport and conceal. MANPADs are widely considered to pose a genuine threat to passenger, commercial, and military aircraft around the globe.
"The FlightGuard system," Sheetrit said, "has completed its development stage, and it has proven its reliability and fine performance. The system is an important and necessary new element in the protection of civilian aviation passengers against terrorism."
An official of Northrop Grumman reported on Friday that the MANPAD threat has grown over the past year. He said that just recently, there have been three missile-related reports: an American Airlines pilot in Los Angeles said he saw a missile fired at his plane; an attempt to smuggle Chinese-made missiles into the U.S.; and a terror group in France vowed to down a passenger plane with Russian-made missiles.
The Northrop Grumman Infrared-Countermeasures Business Director, Jack Pledger, told a Heritage Foundation conference that such missiles need not be used only near an airport. "They can be used any time the target plane is 15,000 feet and under," he said, "which means within a 300-square mile area around a runway."
Israel will be in contact in the coming days with airports around the world, hoping to receive their permission for El Al FlightGuard-equipped planes to land on their runways.
The basic idea of the defensive systems is to create another source of heat, in addition to the plane's engines, so that the heat-guided missiles will be misled and diverted away from the plane. The FlightGuard developers are about to begin work on another system, based on electro-optics, that will use a laser ray to divert enemy missiles.