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Dec 19, 2008 05:03 PM | 4
The persistent concern of when and where terrorists will strike next—heightened by the Mumbai attacks—has led to a number of tech innovations over the past several years, including full-body airport security scanners and adhesives designed to keep buildings from blowing to pieces if bombed. One of the most intriguing of these inventions is a laser system developed to keep terrorist-fired infrared, "heat-seeking" missiles from striking unsuspecting aircraft (both military and civilian).
The Jeteye infrared beam, developed by London-based BAE Systems, blinds a heat-seeking missile's navigation capabilities, giving an airliner a better chance of getting away unscathed. (Although that doesn't solve the problem that the missile could do damage wherever it lands.) Jeteye senses the incoming missile's "infrared tracking signal (with which the missile paints its target) and pulses a super-intense beam of light into the missile's reticle, or eye, scrambling its brains," Conde Nast Traveler reported this week on its Web site.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has given BAE Systems $105 million since 2004 to develop and test its infrared aircraft missile defense system for use on commercial aircraft. The feds are evaluating whether Jeteye could work from the under belly of a jumbo jet, be operated by an airline crew and be maintained by airline mechanics. BAE already demonstrated to the military that Jeteye was effective in defeating missiles in earlier tests. The government wants to determine whether missile-defense technology on commercial aircraft will work properly without adding too much weight or aerodynamic drag (not to mention cost to the already cash-strapped airline budgets).
BAE tried out Jeteye in July on an American Airlines aircraft flying from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport, after earlier evaluations on an American Airlines test aircraft and an ABX Air, Inc. cargo aircraft. Jeteye is set to be installed on two more American Airlines 767-200 aircraft for daily cross-country flights by March 2009. Passengers will be pleased to know that BAE promised in a press release that there "will be no live-fire testing during these flights."
The test is part of Homeland Security's work to fend off potential "Man-Portable Air-Defense Systems" (MANPADS) attacks, primarily shoulder-launched antiaircraft missiles, reports Defense Update, a U.K. bi-monthly defense magazine published online. BAE Systems already makes infrared defense systems for use on military aircraft.
Travelers would prefer to believe that it's impossible for a terrorist with a shoulder-mounted antiaircraft missile launcher to gain access to a runway. But it's not. In 2002 attackers fired two missiles at an Arkia Airlines charter flight taking Israeli tourists from Mombasa, Kenya, to Tel Aviv (the missiles narrowly missed). Homeland Security is taking steps to prevent a replay in this country.
Images courtesy of BAE Systems
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4 Comments
Add CommentTwo quick problems with the idea for anti-missile system like this one installed onto Civilian Aircraft:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this-What if the missiles used against the Airplane are not heat seeking, but instead radar guided, or even laser guided, could the beam have the capability to handle all missile types,
-If an Aircraft with this device installed, is taken over by a hostile force, it would be difficult to stop this Aircraft by conventional means.
I haven't yet read all the exact specifications or answered my questions.
"infrared tracking signal (with which the missile paints its target)"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs far as I know, all current infrared AA missiles use passive infrared tracking. Presumably, this system using the same mechanism as all infrared AA missile early warning systems and detects the heat signature from the missile's rocket exhaust to trigger the missile alert.
"infrared tracking signal (with which the missile paints its target)"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAFAIK, all current infrared AA missiles use passive IR tracking, not active as indicated in the article. Presumably, this system detects the heat signature from a missile's rocket exhaust to trigger an alert.
jcruzer28- Heat seeking man portable missiles are the most readily available. Laser guided systems are not only difficult to come by but require a lot of training. Not sure on radar guided missiles.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAlso, Air Force fighters are typically armed with a variety of air-to-air missile systems that provide a variety of tracking methods. I.e. active/passive radar or IR. Then, even if all of those fair to acquire a target, you always have guns I suppose.