Can jetliners protect themselves from missiles? As the rockets hitting Israel disrupt commercial carriers and investigators probe the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 – the question is swirling again in the aviation industry.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration early Thursday lifted a 24-hour-plus ban on American carriers flying into Tel Aviv, but not before the decision sparked a wider discussion about whether international carriers should fly over regions experiencing conflict, and whether jets should be equipped with antimissile systems as an added precaution.
The latter question remains as knotty as it was 10 years ago. For one thing, no onboard equipment exists to defend a plane against the unguided rockets Hamas has been launching against ground targets, military experts say. These rockets can’t be deflected like heat-seeking missiles.
Different surface-to-air missiles require different prevention methods, potentially opening a Pandora’s box for the industry and turning pilots into quasi-military personnel, airline executives say. Managing equipment that can have false alarms could distract pilots.
Fitting all aircraft with antimissile technologies could cost billions of dollars, create a training nightmare for pilots and potentially add further safety issues due to the erratic nature of the equipment, executives say. Lasers can be damaging to eyes and other defenses can be toxic.
“It’s almost unheard of for nonmilitary aircraft to be fitted with this equipment, and it also increases the risk of other dangers affecting the safety of the aircraft,” said James Hogan, the chief executive of Etihad Airways PJSC. “Civilian airlines should be provided with accurate information to know where they can fly and where they shouldn’t fly.”
A spate of attacks using short-range heat-seeking missiles on commercial airliners a decade ago caused the industry and regulators to explore whether to fit commercial planes with antimissile systems. The conclusion then was that it would be too expensive, unreliable and, ultimately, too dangerous for passenger jets.
“Realistically, if you have lunatics that are going to shoot down airliners with sophisticated radar-guided surface-to-air missiles, there really is not a lot you can do about it,” said Martin Streetly, an U.K.-based electronic warfare consultant.
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(via WSJ Blogs)
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