Can missile defense systems keep commercial airlines safe?
A gondola will hang 700 feet in the air, suspended by cables. Government officials will shoot missiles at it. This bizarre scene will be the latest in the Homeland Security Department’s efforts to develop technology that can defend commercial jets from shoulder-fired missiles. The gondola will replicate the heat signature of a commercial jet and will be outfitted with the two anti-missile systems DHS contractors have been developing. A total of nearly 40 missiles will be fired, two at a time, at the gondola to see how the countermeasures fare. This “live fire” test at the White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico is planned for October, DHS program director Herm Rediess says. That program is in its final stage, and DHS recently launched two others to defend airliners from shoulder-fired missiles, although significant questions remain about all of them. Rediess and other DHS officials spoke about the programs at a May conference sponsored by the National Defense Industrial Associ
