I just read an article in USA Today that informs us that several commercial airlines will be arming their flights with missiles–missiles designed to intercept rockets fired by terrorists on the ground with shoulder launchers.
This is supposed to make me feel more secure when flying???
It gives a whole new meaning to those cheap headphones they pass out for inflight entertainment. I’ll make sure I get them every time. Perhaps they’ll muffle the sound of the bombs bursting in air!
I read another AP article recently that said the tests were for devices to stop a missile attack by detecting heat from the rocket, then responding in a fraction of a second by firing a laser beam that jams the missile’s guidance system.
I didn’t know there was another company with contracts to test missiles!!!
I think the part that makes me more upset is that the money Home Land Security and the airlines are willing to spend on this! At about 1Mill per plane.
An friend of the company I work for is an inventor. He has been demo’ing an amazingly cheap replacement
to the existing “black box” that would give realtime feedback to the ground for all kinds of measurments , saving time, money, etc. Maint crews would know exact part to have ready when flight lands, etc. Safety would be improved beyond measure.
The US Gov’t and the commecial airlines were shocked they weren’t already doing what this inventor came up with! To date it has been over 4 years since he first showed them. Still no progress, they won’t invest in it.
Now they go and spend 1Mill per plane on lasers and missiles! All for a threat that is statistically minute! When a very real threat like equipment malfunction is a ignored.
Makes me so crazy. Seems criminal what they are doing.