Homeland Security : Protecting Airliners from Terrorist Missiles

Book Id: WPLBN0000097994
Format Type: PDF eBook
File Size: 0.9 MB
Reproduction Date: 2008

Title:	Homeland Security : Protecting Airliners from Terrorist Missiles
Author:
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Government publications, Legislation., Government Printing Office (U.S.)
Collections:	Government Library Collection
Historic Publication Date:
Publisher:	Government Printing Office


Citation APA MLA Chicago Homeland Security : Protecting Airliners from Terrorist Missiles. (n.d.). Homeland Security : Protecting Airliners from Terrorist Missiles. Retrieved from http://gutenberg.us/

Excerpt
Summary: Recent events have focused attention on the threat that terrorists with shoulder fired surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), referred to as Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS), pose to commercial airliners. Most believe that no single solution exists to effectively mitigate this threat. Instead, a menu of options may be considered, including installing infrared (IR) countermeasures on aircraft; modifying flight operations and air traffic control procedures; improving airport and regional security; and strengthening missile non-proliferation efforts. Equipping aircraft with missile countermeasure systems can protect the aircraft even when operating in areas where ground-based security measures are unavailable or infeasible to implement. However, this option has a relatively high cost, between $1 million and $3 million per aircraft, and the time needed for implementation does not allow for immediate response to the existing terrorist threat. Procedural improvements such as specific flight crew training, altering air traffic procedures to minimize exposure to the threat, and improved security near airports may be less costly than countermeasures and could more immediately help deter domestic terrorist attacks. However, these techniques by themselves cannot completely mitigate the risk of domestic attacks and would not protect U.S. airliners flying to and from foreign airports.

Table of Contents
Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Types of Shoulder-Fired SAMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Infrared (IR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Command Line-of-Sight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Laser Beam Riders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Shoulder-Fired SAM Proliferation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Non-State Groups With Shoulder-Fired SAMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Recent U.S. Military Encounters with Shoulder-Fired Missiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Civilian Aviation Encounters with Shoulder-Fired Missiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Options for Mitigating Missile Threats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 IR Countermeasures and Aircraft Improvements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Improved Pilot Training and Air Traffic Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Improvements to Airport and Local Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Nonproliferation and Counterproliferation Efforts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Shoulder-Fired Missile Design and Manufacture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Congressional Action on Shoulder-Fired Missiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Administration Plans and Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24