Congressional critics and outside analysts are taking aim at the Department of Homeland Security's plan to defend passenger planes against shoulder-fired missiles.
On Monday, Dr. Charles McQueary, the department's undersecretary for science and technology, announced an "aggressive" two-year study to "determine if in fact there is a viable and effective technology we could deploy to protect commercial aircraft."
Under McQueary's plan, three defense contracting teams will have six months and $2 million each to put together road maps for adapting military antimissile systems to civilian jets. Then the department will decide whether to build and test a prototype. That process could take up to a year and a half.
But that's too few decisions in too much time, critics contend. In a little more than a year, so-called MANPADS (short for man-portable air defense systems) have been used to attack an Israeli jet over Kenya, a DHL cargo craft over Iraq, a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter, and an Air Force C-17 transport plane. More than half a million of the weapons have been made since the mid-'60s, and tens of thousands of them are unaccounted for. The military's planes already have MANPADS countermeasures on board, argues Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York). Why wait to put them on passenger jets?
"Shoulder-fired missiles are probably the greatest danger commercial airliners face in today's world. While I'm glad DHS (Department of Homeland Security) is finally moving forward, it's at much too slow a pace. We can't afford to wait another two years to outfit planes -- it's already been 14 months since the Kenya attacks," Schumer said in a statement.
My Wired News article has details on the MANPADS debate.
THERE'S MORE: In September, the Bush Administration pledged $100 million towards jet defense -- and $60 million is budgeted this year towards these efforts. The month before, Northrop Grumman revealed a project to zap oncoming missiles with a chemical-powered laser.
AND MORE: In the Boston Globe, MIT's Theodore Postol and Geoffrey Forden argue that "foiling aircraft attacks isn't rocket science." They point to a number of relatively simple technologies which could help prevent jetliner hijackings.
"Multiple tiny video cameras could be placed throughout a plane's passenger compartment to record initial actions that might lead to a takeover," they suggest. "Wireless videocams could even be worn on the clothing of flight attendants."
AND MORE: On Thursday, an Air Mobility Command C-5 transport plane was hit by a missile, witnesses say. Luckily, the craft made it back safely to Baghdad airport. A Black Hawk helpicopter, struck near Fallujah, was not so lucky. Nine soldiers are dead.
Congressional critics and outside analysts are taking aim at the Department of Homeland Security's plan to defend passenger planes against shoulder-fired missiles.
On Monday, Dr. Charles McQueary, the department's undersecretary for science and technology, announced an "aggressive" two-year study to "determine if in fact there is a viable and effective technology we could deploy to protect commercial aircraft."
Under McQueary's plan, three defense contracting teams will have six months and $2 million each to put together road maps for adapting military antimissile systems to civilian jets. Then the department will decide whether to build and test a prototype. That process could take up to a year and a half.
But that's too few decisions in too much time, critics contend. In a little more than a year, so-called MANPADS (short for man-portable air defense systems) have been used to attack an Israeli jet over Kenya, a DHL cargo craft over Iraq, a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter, and an Air Force C-17 transport plane. More than half a million of the weapons have been made since the mid-'60s, and tens of thousands of them are unaccounted for. The military's planes already have MANPADS countermeasures on board, argues Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York). Why wait to put them on passenger jets?
"Shoulder-fired missiles are probably the greatest danger commercial airliners face in today's world. While I'm glad DHS (Department of Homeland Security) is finally moving forward, it's at much too slow a pace. We can't afford to wait another two years to outfit planes -- it's already been 14 months since the Kenya attacks," Schumer said in a statement.
My Wired News article has details on the MANPADS debate.
THERE'S MORE: In September, the Bush Administration pledged $100 million towards jet defense -- and $60 million is budgeted this year towards these efforts. The month before, Northrop Grumman revealed a project to zap oncoming missiles with a chemical-powered laser.
AND MORE: In the Boston Globe, MIT's Theodore Postol and Geoffrey Forden argue that "foiling aircraft attacks isn't rocket science." They point to a number of relatively simple technologies which could help prevent jetliner hijackings.
"Multiple tiny video cameras could be placed throughout a plane's passenger compartment to record initial actions that might lead to a takeover," they suggest. "Wireless videocams could even be worn on the clothing of flight attendants."
AND MORE: On Thursday, an Air Mobility Command C-5 transport plane was hit by a missile, witnesses say. Luckily, the craft made it back safely to Baghdad airport. A Black Hawk helpicopter, struck near Fallujah, was not so lucky. Nine soldiers are dead.