Protection Against Missiles Called Too Costly for Airlines

[LiviaOlivia]

Protection Against Missiles Called Too Costly for Airlines
By Renae Merle
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Existing technology to resist a shoulder-fired-missile attack on a commercial aircraft is too expensive and unreliable, according to a Rand Corp. study released yesterday.

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Rand, a nonprofit research firm, studied military-based antimissile technology and concluded that adapting it for commercial airlines would be prohibitively expensive and that the equipment would be too difficult to maintain. The study said there were many unresolved questions about how the technology would operate on commercial airlines, noting that false alarms could be a problem and that terrorists might find ways to fool the systems. The report urged further study of the threat posed by shoulder-fired missiles -- known as man-portable air defense systems (Manpads) -- and the systems to defend against attacks.

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The report estimated that it would cost $11 billion to install laser jammers on the 6,800 planes in the U.S. commercial fleet and $2.1 billion a year to maintain the systems.

The report acknowledged that the loss of even one commercial jetliner to a shoulder-fired missile would be significant, estimating the cost of the aircraft and legal settlement of numerous deaths at $1 billion. The cost could grow to $15 billion over several months from a single attack, if travelers were then reluctant to fly, the report said. "Well-financed terrorists will likely always be able to devise a Manpads attack scenario that will defeat whatever countermeasures have been installed, although countermeasures can make such attacks considerably more difficult and less frequent," the report said. "Installing countermeasures to Manpads attacks may simply divert terrorist efforts to less protected opportunities for attack."

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36683-2005Jan25.html