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Can commercial airlines do enough to protect passengers from missile attacks?
Fox News.com ^ | July 20, 2014 | Eric Shawn

Posted on 07/20/2014 2:39:56 PM PDT by Kaslin

Every airline passenger is familiar with the security routine: take your shoes off, laptop goes in the plastic bin, remove all metal items from your pockets and place any liquids in a separate plastic bag and walk through that metal detector.

But the familiar precautions aimed at protecting airliners from possible bombs or weapons do nothing to ward off an incoming missile that can blow the jetliner out of the sky. The Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 shot down last week has focused attention on protecting planes from potential missile strikes, which, it turns out, have taken down more than one dozen airliners in aviation history.

One answer could be "Sky Shield," a new Israeli-manufactured system that officials say successfully protected a test El Al Airlines Boeing 737 in live-fire missile tests.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Israel; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:
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1 posted on 07/20/2014 2:39:56 PM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin
They could try not flying over war zones.

See how that works out.

2 posted on 07/20/2014 2:42:40 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum ("The man who damns money obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it earned it." --Ayn Rand)
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To: Kaslin

#1 should be “don’t fly over a war zone” That would take care of much of the risk.

Right now, I’m more concerned with hordes of the great unwashed carrying TB, scabies, lice, measles, etc. sitting around me. That, and a Muslim with a shoe bomb that got through security while the TSA was doing a cavity search on an 80-year-old nun.


3 posted on 07/20/2014 2:43:50 PM PDT by Pining_4_TX (All those who were appointed to eternal life believed. Acts 13:48)
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To: Kaslin

I think that system is based on IR - think flares as a defense.

Flares don’t help with radar systems like this last one.


4 posted on 07/20/2014 2:44:14 PM PDT by PeteB570 ( Islam is the sea in which the Terrorist Shark swims. The deeper the sea the larger the shark.)
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To: Kaslin

Can I ask a stupid question? Are we now seeing rogue soldiers from Russia, or terrorists, getting their hands on rocket launchers??? It stuns me that that this could happen, either by accident, or intentionally.

Sorry to ramble, but I’m sure Bin Laden and his boys would have loved to have had a missile launcher. I’m sure every terror organization and rogue nation would love to have these and have nukes as well.


5 posted on 07/20/2014 2:46:09 PM PDT by Dilbert San Diego (s)
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To: Kaslin

They could greatly reduce the chance by not flying through the middle of a war zone.


6 posted on 07/20/2014 2:47:57 PM PDT by bgill
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To: Kaslin

No.
They would need military grade or better countermeasures which add weight, reduce available space, reduce range, and reduce carrying capacity.
And even with the best jammers and countermeasures science and tech could possibly provide, planes will still get hit.


7 posted on 07/20/2014 2:51:54 PM PDT by Darksheare (I don't have a copy. one's free..... Even robots will kill for it!)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

European airlines are doing that now and American Airlines have avoided flying over war zones for quite a while according to news reports I have heard


8 posted on 07/20/2014 2:58:19 PM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

“They could try not flying over war zones.”

Yea, I was thinking the same. Everyone is so worked up over blaming Putin they forget this was an ACTIVE WAR ZONE with planes being shot out of the sky. If the plane didn’t fly through there, it would have landed safely. If Putin didn’t exist...maybe it would have landed safely (or maybe one side or the other would have shot it down some other way).

It’s just generally a good idea to stay clear of ACTIVE WAR ZONES, and I suspect the policy will change for the better...just too bad these people had to pay with their lives.


9 posted on 07/20/2014 3:02:49 PM PDT by BobL
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To: bgill

How about—Do not fly over a war zone! How about you let everyone know you are NOT a combatant? Wars are always risky for travelers—always have been.


10 posted on 07/20/2014 3:11:42 PM PDT by Forward the Light Brigade (Into the Jaws of H*onward! Ride to the sound of the guns!)
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To: Kaslin

“One answer could be “Sky Shield,” a new Israeli-manufactured system that officials say successfully protected a test El Al Airlines Boeing 737 in live-fire missile tests.”

GREAT - the Israelis do live-fire tests on passenger planes. I don’t care how much confidence you have in a system, you don’t put people at that kind of risk. This explains what’s going on in Gaza.
(my imitation of an Israel-hater)


11 posted on 07/20/2014 3:13:02 PM PDT by BobL
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To: BobL

“(my imitation of an Israel-hater)”

Yikes-—for a minute I thought you were serious.

:-)

.


12 posted on 07/20/2014 3:15:06 PM PDT by Mears
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To: Mears

LOL, I actually did pause for a second reading it because it initially sounded like a test with passengers on board.


13 posted on 07/20/2014 3:17:38 PM PDT by BobL
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To: Kaslin

Although the article points out that this technology does not work against radar directed missiles, they are trying to convince the public that if we just give the government a little more money, we can be safe from the type of attack that brought down the Malaysian airliners.

Commercial airliners are vulnerable to all air defense weapons systems and they cannot be protected against them all. Avoidance of conflict zones will become essential, raising operating costs and disrupting flight schedules. The days of safe and reliable civilian air travel may be coming to an end. Ignoring world conflicts and pretending that they have nothing to do with us has a number of serious consequences.


14 posted on 07/20/2014 3:25:22 PM PDT by centurion316
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To: Kaslin

Yeah, don’t fly in war zones.


15 posted on 07/20/2014 3:35:44 PM PDT by Timber Rattler (Just say NO! to RINOS and the GOP-E)
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To: Timber Rattler; E. Pluribus Unum; Pining_4_TX; bgill; Kaslin; BobL; Forward the Light Brigade; ...
They could try not flying over war zones. ~ E. Pluribus Unum

#1 should be “don’t fly over a war zone” That would take care of much of the risk. ~ Pining_4_TX

They could greatly reduce the chance by not flying through the middle of a war zone. ~ bgill

European airlines are doing that now and American Airlines have avoided flying over war zones for quite a while according to news reports I have heard ~ Kaslin

“They could try not flying over war zones.” Yea, I was thinking the same. ~ BobL

How about—Do not fly over a war zone! ~ Forward the Light Brigade

Avoidance of conflict zones will become essential, ~ centurion316

Yeah, don’t fly in war zones. ~ Timber Rattler

When terrorists have access to SAMs what part of the sky is not an active combat zone?

16 posted on 07/20/2014 4:01:10 PM PDT by null and void (If Bill Clinton was the first black president, why isn't Barack Obama the first woman president?)
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To: null and void

Right now terrorists only have access to MANPADS which are not a threat to overflights. The Russians Army are thugs, but are way beyond terrorists. However, when that changes, my comment about the end of commercial air travel will apply in many parts of the world.


17 posted on 07/20/2014 4:05:28 PM PDT by centurion316
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To: Kaslin

Just wait until they drop one here. There is more than children coming across our open unsecured borders. There are many shoulder fired missiles unaccountable.
We know they have the desire, the means and money, and the necessary hate of us. So all that can be missing is a workable plan.


18 posted on 07/20/2014 4:26:53 PM PDT by reefdiver (Be the Best you can be Whatever you Dream to be)
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To: Kaslin

Shoulder fired missiles at close range (takeoff or landing) have few countermeasures.

Those weapons have proliferated greatly in the last 5 years.

With our southern border in disarray, those weapons may be flowing over in large numbers.

Remember what 9/11 did to our airline industry and economy?

Now imagine a dozen airliners shot down at the same time while taking off or landing. 3000 dead, no defense possible, our airspace shut down and our economy destroyed.


19 posted on 07/20/2014 4:28:16 PM PDT by Erik Latranyi
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To: reefdiver
There is more than children coming across our open unsecured borders.

You mean that other 90% of the invaders?


I wonder what would happen if the US banned remittances to those countries?
20 posted on 07/20/2014 4:29:20 PM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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