$100M Missile Defense For Aircraft

Bush Admin. Increases Funding For Research & Testing

(AP)  The Bush administration plans to spend about $100 million to develop an anti-missile system for commercial planes, more than originally discussed, reflecting concern that terrorists might try to use shoulder-fired rockets to shoot down an aircraft.

The Homeland Security Department has told defense contractors it is seeking proposals, agency spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said Thursday.

"This solicitation represents another important step in trying to determine if in fact there is a viable and effective technology that could be deployed on commercial aircraft," Roehrkasse said.

Congressional budget negotiators on Wednesday agreed to give the Homeland Security Department $60 million in 2004 to start developing the technology.

The Bush administration has been criticized by some lawmakers who say it has not taken the missile threat seriously enough. Under pressure, the administration last spring said it would need about $60 million to develop anti-missile technology, but never specifically asked for the funds.

The latest proposal calls for spending $100 million over two years. It does not seek new technologies, instead encouraging contractors to use existing defenses such as infrared jammers that redirect heat-seeking rockets away from aircraft engines. Such methods already are used on military planes and Air Force One.

Roehrkasse said the effort builds on a previous, broader request for information from eight contractors.

The administration's announcement outlines a two-pronged effort, beginning with a six-month Phase I that explores the system's cost and reliability. Phase II, which will take 18 months, will demonstrate, test and evaluate the systems.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., has sponsored a bill to equip the 6,800 planes in the U.S. commercial fleet with some form of anti-missile device at an estimated cost of $10 billion. He said the Bush administration still is moving too slowly.

"I don't think we can afford to wait two years," Schumer said. "They still don't have the realization that we should be doing it far more quickly than we're doing it, and they should be spending more money."

Schumer said whatever it costs to outfit planes with anti-missile technology will be cheaper than the economic damage from a successful missile attack.

Concerns about terrorists using lightweight rocket launchers to take down commercial airliners increased in November when terrorists fired two SA-7 missiles that narrowly missed an Israeli passenger jet after it took off from Mombasa, Kenya.

Officials concluded that al Qaeda probably was behind the attack, which coincided with a bomb blast at a nearby hotel.

Hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of Soviet-style SA-7s — heat-seeking rockets that can hit low-flying aircraft within three miles — are said to be available on the worldwide arms market.

Last month a British arms dealer was arrested in New Jersey and charged with trying to sell a shoulder-fired missile, which it turned out was a fake, to an undercover agent posing as a Muslim terrorist bent on shooting down a U.S. airliner.

Israel recently budgeted $1.3 million to test an anti-missile system for commercial airliners. The system's developer said the countermeasures should be operational within 12 months.

British Airways said last week it is considering fitting its aircraft with anti-missile systems and has begun talks with manufacturers Boeing and Airbus about adapting the technology to commercial planes.