Missile defense system for passenger aircraft

An anti-missile system is being tested in Israel, which uses laser devices to detect and deflect missiles' defenses, protecting passenger aircraft from being shot down.

>>>Laser blocking missiles - Aerial protection solution

Israeli missile defense project

In 2002, an Israeli aircraft flying at a height of more than 150 meters in the airspace of Mombasa, Kenya, was attacked with a shoulder-mounted missile. No one was injured in the incident, but it became the reason for the Israeli government to begin searching and testing measures to protect its passengers and helicopters from the risk of being shot down by the defense system. Non-personal mobile (MANPADS).

MANPADS has long been considered a major threat to aerial vehicles. The commercial aviation anti-missile system has also not been designed to protect aircraft against the attack of long-range surface-to-air missiles (SAM) . Buk SAM anti-aircraft missile system is thought to be related to Malaysia Airlines' MH17 aircraft being shot down in Ukraine.

An Israeli Boeing 737 aircraft is equipped with missile defense systems using laser equipment.(Photo: lbit Systems)

However, at any height, targeting a rocket from a moving plane is technically very complicated."It's like shooting a tennis ball with a laser from an airplane while traveling at 800-900km / h," said a former official named Dar of the Israeli Defense Force.

The project of Israeli anti-missile and aircraft protection technology called SkyShield . The research program focuses on fully automated systems such as lasers and radar jamming units. The system uses C-MUSIC equipment mounted at the bottom of the fuselage (aircraft belly). When the missile approaches, the laser pointing towards the missile's sensor unit will operate and deflect the firing direction of this weapon.

Experts believe that they can replace the metal drop method to cause diffraction and distract the tracking system , a technique that is commonly used in the military but can be dangerous public.

The project is coordinated with Elbit Systems, an international defense technology company that has nearly 10 years of research and development of anti-missile solutions for passenger aircraft. Elbit Systems has deployed technology "countermeasures" in the German, Italian and other European countries, performing the task of protecting leaders or important figures. In addition to Israel, the company has not signed contracts with commercial airlines of other countries. According to Elbit, Israel has successfully tested anti-missile technology on Boeing 777 and Boeing 80 aircraft, including recent tests in the south of the country.

However, many experts doubt Israel's approach to this issue. Professor Theodore Postal of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the missile defense system for aircraft would be ineffective. Especially when designing more sophisticated day missiles, making them difficult to detect or destroy, it is extremely difficult to protect the aircraft from the risk of attack.

Simulate the operation of missile defense systems on Israeli commercial aircraft.(Graphics: WSJ)

American project

For the United States, the 2002 Mombasa incident and the September 11, 2001 attacks raised concerns and concerns of the country in promoting passenger plane protection.

In May 2002, the FBI warned the attack target of al Qaeda was aimed at the US aviation industry, and they needed to pay attention to the possibility that shoulder-to-shoulder missiles could also be used to against the country's commercial aircraft.

A year later, the draft equipped a missile defense system for commercial aircraft launched in the US parliament. Under this draft, the Ministry of Defense will spend about a million dollars to equip anti-missile technology for a commercial aircraft. With about 6,800 aircraft, the amount used to equip this system is nearly 7 billion USD. The US Department of Defense then used the plan to require aircraft suppliers to research military anti-missile technology for commercial purposes. One of them is Northrop Grumman's anti-missile program.

To solve the cost problem, the US research projects in recent years have moved to another direction. The US Department of Homeland Security's Chloe project focuses on research and use of drones with missile detection and defeating features. This method will be applied at airports.