Posted on 01/14/2022 6:06:21 PM PST by algore
With the right military equipment, a single person can target a plane from three miles away using a heat-seeking missile. While such a nightmare is a rare occurrence, FedEx has applied to the FAA seeking approval to install a laser-based, anti-missile defense system on its cargo planes as an added safety measure.
Military planes carry flares that can be remotely ignited and ejected by a pilot to throw off a heat-seeking missile’s targeting system with an alternate heat source, while the plane itself performs evasive maneuvers in an attempt to fool the incoming projectile.
Those countermeasures are less effective for larger aircraft, however, with larger heat signatures as a result of multiple jet engines under each wing, and considerably less maneuverability than a fighter jet. An alternative solution is the use of a device that fires an infrared laser directly at an incoming missile in an attempt to disrupt its ability to track the aircraft’s heat signature.
FedEx’s request to the Federal Aviation Administration, filed on Jan. 4, didn’t come completely out of left field, however. In 2008, the company worked with Northrop Grumman to test its anti-missile laser-based defense systems on 12 of the shipping company’s cargo planes for over a year.
At the time, Northrop Grumman announced that its “system is ready to be deployed on civilian aircraft,” although no commercial orders had been placed at the time, according to a company spokesperson. That may have changed, however.
In the application document, which is “scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Jan. 18,” FedEx cites “several incidents abroad” where “civilian aircraft were fired upon by man-portable air defense systems” which are nearly impossible to detect given their range of operation, but undoubtedly a serious threat when operating aircraft in some parts of the world.
(Excerpt) Read more at gizmodo.com ...
That there Babylon Bee shure is funny!
Ummm, wait...
That’s an interesting development.
I wonder what they know that we don’t.
They are looting trains in LA! They’ll need tail gunners on Amazon delivery trucks soon!
The VAX must flow..
Yeah. Sumpins up.
Good.
As long as they are allowed to use them, that would be fine.
Otherwise, the guns will just end up in the hands of the criminals, as usual.
This is great news! Maybe they can use their lasers to erase crack houses as they approach Memphis International Airport.
If FedEx gets the laser, I’m going to petition for a nice pretty Paladin battery.
iirc El Al runs active/passive counter measures
but not here
Trains have been getting hit like that for decades.
“I wonder what they know that we don’t.”
There is a reason the government is building a wall around the White House too.
“I wonder what they know that we don’t.”
There is a reason the government is building a wall around the White House too.
Yeah. For sure.
The left does not do anything without a reason.
FedEx delivering to active war zones? Package thieves resorting to the use of SAMS?
Obviously, racist!
Maybe they could use them on the idiots lasing the pilots.
All those Benghazi missiles finally making their way out of Syria to more global locations?
This world is becoming more like the world of Mad Max every day!
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