Posted on 11/13/2011 8:44:11 AM PST by Mount Athos
Israel has accelerated the installation of anti-missile defenses on its airliners, a security official said on Friday, seeing an enhanced risk of attack by militants using looted Libyan arms.
Jets flown by El Al and two other Israeli carriers are being equipped with a locally made system known as C-Music that uses a laser to "blind" heat-seeking missiles, the official said, giving a 2013 target for fitting most of the fleet.
As a stop-gap, Israel is adapting air force counter-measures for use aboard civilian planes, said the official, who declined to elaborate on the technologies involved, or to be identified.
"We have long been aware of the threat and were ahead of the rest of the world in preparing for it. Libya has meant government orders to step things up even further," the official said, citing intelligence assessments that chaos during the North African nation's uprising against Muammar Gaddafi allowed trafficking of Libyan shoulder-fired missiles to Palestinians and al Qaeda-linked groups in the Egyptian Sinai.
Israel began deploying another system, "Flight Guard," on El Al after al Qaeda tried to shoot down a planeload of Israeli tourists in Kenya in 2002. Flight Guard's use of diversionary flares set off safety concerns abroad and the Israelis turned to C-Music, manufactured by Elbit Systems Ltd..
According to the Israeli official, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is covering the $1 million to $1.5 million that it costs to fit C-Music to each plane.
The bathtub-sized pods, built into the planes' bodies, increase drag in flight, meaning "a few million (dollars) a year" in extra fuel expenses, the official said, adding that this, too, would be borne by the government.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
in other news, there’s no plans to stop our planes being sitting ducks for 20,000 SAMs that went missing from Libya
Just means flying ElAl is a good bet.
Given that the threat from Libyan SAMs is primarily on take offs and landings..and also only in a few countries...I’m surprised they didn’t design the system to be lowered ( and then retracted) from the airframe....to save on fule costs..
Thank you, Barry Hussein Obama! You helped Al Qaeda take over Libya! But hey, you’re just doing your job as a good Muslim. You and your wife Chewbacca earned another vacation in Hawaii. Maybe you can help Al Qadea fly its flag over Maui too.
Indeed.....a friend of mine used to travel regularly from London to the Middle East in the 60s. He flew ELAL when at all possible. There was even a chicane in their Regent Street booking office.
**
He has been replaced (courtesy of Obama) with radical extremists who are hell bent on restoring Sharia Law in Libya and are also evil sons of bi-—s with a propensity to kill those that stand in their way. Hundreds if not thousands of surface to air missiles are now missing. They will probably show up in Israel, the USA, and Western Europe.
Question: Are we better of now that Kadaffy is gone?
better of now = better off now
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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Arab Spring. Arabs gave us airport security, perhaps they'll give us air escorts for commercial airliners. A shame only Israel is doing this.
” ... Just means flying ElAl is a good bet... “
Always works for me ...
Shalom, pal ........................ FRegards
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