Security experts have been spooked since 2002, when terrorists tried to take down an Israeli passenger jet flying out of Kenya with a pair of Soviet-made, shoulder-fired missiles.
Defense contractor Raytheon may have found a futuristic answer to the throwback threat: a microwave blaster that confuses the weapons' guidance systems.
The Vigilant Eagle system uses a series of passive infrared trackers, surrounding an airport, that look out for missile exhaust. When these sensors detect a launch, data about the missile's trajectory is sent to a control center, which in turn tells a billboard-size microwave array where to blast.
My Popular Mechanics article has a few more details.
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