Flight Guard
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Flight Guard is an infrared countermeasure for civilian aircraft, designed for protection against anti-aircraft missiles. The system has been installed in aircraft of the El Al,[1][2] Arkia and Israir fleets that fly to high risk destinations.
Flight Guard was developed from the EL/M-2160 military system[3] by Israeli Aerospace Industries and Elta after an attempt was made to shoot down an Arkia Israel Airlines Boeing 757 in Mombasa, Kenya in 2002.[4] It is specifically designed to defend low-flying aircraft against MANPADs, such as those utilized in the attack in Kenya. The automated system uses Elta's doppler radar to detect incoming missiles, before firing IAI-designed civilian flares to decoy incoming infrared-homed missiles.
The system has proved controversial, with both the FAA[5] and Switzerland raising fire hazard safety concerns. The Swiss have stated that any aircraft with the system installed will be grounded, despite uncovering a plot to down an El Al aircraft in that country[6]; other European countries have indicated that they might follow suit.[7]
Flight Guard is an intermediate system, as it will be superseded by a newer laser-based jamming system called Multi-Spectral Infrared Countermeasure (MUSIC) that does not use flares. Development of the new system will start in 2008.[8]
[edit] References
- ^ Williams, Dan. "El Al Fits Fleet with Anti-Missile System", defensenews.com, 2006-02-16. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
- ^ Vause, John. "Missile defense for El Al fleet", CNN, Monday, May 24, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-11-30.
- ^ "first self-protection system for commercial aircraft at Paris Air Show", israel21c.org, 2003-06-15.
- ^ "Kenyan police find Mombasa missiles", BBC News, 2002-12-06. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
- ^ "Missile-protected El Al planes may be banned from U.S. airports", israelinsider.com, 2004-04-23. Retrieved on 2007-10-25.
- ^ "Swiss 'foiled hit on Israeli jet'", BBC News, June 8, 2006.
- ^ Beck, Eldad. "Europe objects to El Al's anti-missile shield", Ynetnews, 2006-02-26. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
- ^ "Israel to Fund System to Protect Commercial Aircraft from Missiles", defensetalk.com, 2007-10-12.
[edit] See also
- CAMPS
- Northrop Grumman Guardian
- Directional Infrared Counter Measures
- 2002 Mombasa hotel bombing - attack was co-ordinated with the shootdown attempt.
- List of airliner shootdown incidents
[edit] External links
- Flight Guard Promotional Video
- Flight Guard (Photographs and technical specifications)
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