thedrifter
01-16-07, 03:35 PM
Anti-missile laser to fly on FedEx jet
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Tuesday, January 16, 2007.
By ALLISON GATLIN
Valley Press Staff Writer
LOS ANGELES - The first commercial airliner to carry a high-tech defensive system against shoulder-fired missiles is scheduled to take off from Los Angeles International Airport today.
The FedEx cargo plane is equipped with Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Guardian system, which uses a laser to divert incoming missiles away from the aircraft. The system was tested extensively at Mojave Airport two years ago.
The cargo plane is one of a fleet that will be used to test the Guardian in routine use, part of a Department of Homeland Security effort to solicit designs for such systems in answer to the threat of the missiles being used to attack commercial aircraft as they take off or land.
"I started looking for this right after 9-11," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., author of a bill that would require such defensive systems on commercial airliners. "As we take steps to make our aircraft more safe on the inside … we must take steps to protect aircraft from external attacks."
The system is designed to protect against ground-based missile launchers, known as "man-portable air defense systems," or MANPADS. Originally developed in the Vietnam War era as defense against air attacks, they have become increasingly sophisticated weapons capable of offensive threats. Consisting primarily of 6-foot-long launch tubes, the systems can be carried easily and set up by a single person in under a minute.
Intelligence experts estimate that some 500,000 of these missile launchers are available worldwide, "and many are in the hands of terrorists," said Wes Bush, president and CFO of Northrop Grumman Corp. "So this is not some theoretical threat we're talking about."
Mounted in an oblong pod beneath the aircraft fuselage, Northrop Grumman's defensive system consists of a series of missile sensors that offer a 360-degree view of the airspace beneath the airliner. Once a missile threat is detected, an infrared laser beam mounted in a rotating turret is used to attack the missile's guidance system and steer it off course and away from the airliner.
The entire process takes less than three seconds and is completely automatic, said David Denton, director of Northrop Grumman's infrared countermeasures commercial programs.
The technology used by the Guardian system is not new; a similar system has been in use by the U.S. military since 2000. That technology was adapted to meet the unique challenges of commercial use. Primary among those adaptations is the more strenuous pace of operations at the commercial level, with less time between major maintenance periods.
Flight testing on the FedEx MD-10s during the next 15 months, through March 2008, will evaluate the system in routine use to test its performance, reliability and maintenance requirements.
Guardian is designed to meet the same maintenance schedules as the airliners on which they are mounted, Denton said.
A total of 11 aircraft will be modified to carry the pods, but only nine will be in use at any time, to accommodate maintenance schedules.
While this testing program uses only cargo aircraft, the Department of Homeland Security is also looking at protection systems for commercial passenger aircraft, Denton said.
This flight test program will evaluate the effects of the Guardian pod on weight, drag and fuel efficiency, cost issues that are also important to passenger airline service, he said.
An attack by a shoulder-fired missile on an Israeli airliner in Kenya in 2002 demonstrated the need for such systems, Boxer said.
Her bill would require the federal government to pay to retrofit existing airliners with the systems, and require all new aircraft to be built with them.
The Department of Homeland Security program targets a cost of $1 million per system, once production is under way.
During the development phase of the program, Northrop Grumman modified an MD-11 and a 747 to accommodate the system and conducted tests at Mojave Airport.
For the flight tests at Mojave, a series of electronic sensors simulating missiles were arrayed on the ground across the airport. These sensors not only sent signals to the aircraft simulating an incoming missile but also recorded the defense system's response.
Additionally, the flight tests were used to satisfy the Federal Aviation Administration's requirements to demonstrate the airworthiness of the modifications to the MD-11 to support the Guardian system.
agatlin@avpress.com
Ellie
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Tuesday, January 16, 2007.
By ALLISON GATLIN
Valley Press Staff Writer
LOS ANGELES - The first commercial airliner to carry a high-tech defensive system against shoulder-fired missiles is scheduled to take off from Los Angeles International Airport today.
The FedEx cargo plane is equipped with Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Guardian system, which uses a laser to divert incoming missiles away from the aircraft. The system was tested extensively at Mojave Airport two years ago.
The cargo plane is one of a fleet that will be used to test the Guardian in routine use, part of a Department of Homeland Security effort to solicit designs for such systems in answer to the threat of the missiles being used to attack commercial aircraft as they take off or land.
"I started looking for this right after 9-11," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., author of a bill that would require such defensive systems on commercial airliners. "As we take steps to make our aircraft more safe on the inside … we must take steps to protect aircraft from external attacks."
The system is designed to protect against ground-based missile launchers, known as "man-portable air defense systems," or MANPADS. Originally developed in the Vietnam War era as defense against air attacks, they have become increasingly sophisticated weapons capable of offensive threats. Consisting primarily of 6-foot-long launch tubes, the systems can be carried easily and set up by a single person in under a minute.
Intelligence experts estimate that some 500,000 of these missile launchers are available worldwide, "and many are in the hands of terrorists," said Wes Bush, president and CFO of Northrop Grumman Corp. "So this is not some theoretical threat we're talking about."
Mounted in an oblong pod beneath the aircraft fuselage, Northrop Grumman's defensive system consists of a series of missile sensors that offer a 360-degree view of the airspace beneath the airliner. Once a missile threat is detected, an infrared laser beam mounted in a rotating turret is used to attack the missile's guidance system and steer it off course and away from the airliner.
The entire process takes less than three seconds and is completely automatic, said David Denton, director of Northrop Grumman's infrared countermeasures commercial programs.
The technology used by the Guardian system is not new; a similar system has been in use by the U.S. military since 2000. That technology was adapted to meet the unique challenges of commercial use. Primary among those adaptations is the more strenuous pace of operations at the commercial level, with less time between major maintenance periods.
Flight testing on the FedEx MD-10s during the next 15 months, through March 2008, will evaluate the system in routine use to test its performance, reliability and maintenance requirements.
Guardian is designed to meet the same maintenance schedules as the airliners on which they are mounted, Denton said.
A total of 11 aircraft will be modified to carry the pods, but only nine will be in use at any time, to accommodate maintenance schedules.
While this testing program uses only cargo aircraft, the Department of Homeland Security is also looking at protection systems for commercial passenger aircraft, Denton said.
This flight test program will evaluate the effects of the Guardian pod on weight, drag and fuel efficiency, cost issues that are also important to passenger airline service, he said.
An attack by a shoulder-fired missile on an Israeli airliner in Kenya in 2002 demonstrated the need for such systems, Boxer said.
Her bill would require the federal government to pay to retrofit existing airliners with the systems, and require all new aircraft to be built with them.
The Department of Homeland Security program targets a cost of $1 million per system, once production is under way.
During the development phase of the program, Northrop Grumman modified an MD-11 and a 747 to accommodate the system and conducted tests at Mojave Airport.
For the flight tests at Mojave, a series of electronic sensors simulating missiles were arrayed on the ground across the airport. These sensors not only sent signals to the aircraft simulating an incoming missile but also recorded the defense system's response.
Additionally, the flight tests were used to satisfy the Federal Aviation Administration's requirements to demonstrate the airworthiness of the modifications to the MD-11 to support the Guardian system.
agatlin@avpress.com
Ellie