The U.S. and Israel will deepen cooperation on civilian aircraft protection
Israel was the first victim of a systematic terror campaign against its aviation (by the PLO in the late 1960s), so it has learned a thing or two about protecting passenger aircraft; the U.S. and Israel will now collaborate more closely in such protective efforts
Israeli commercial airplanes were the first to become a target of a systematic terror camopaign (by the PLO in the late 1960s). In the past three and half decades Israel has accumulated valuable experience in dealing with terorism against aviation — from the vaunted rescue operation of the hijacked Sabena plane (early 1973), to Entebbe (July 1976), to, most recently, equipping El Al planes with defenses against shoulder-mounted missiles (December 2005). Now Israel and the United States have decided to expand cooperation in securing passenger planes and airports from terror threats.
Talks between the two sides focused on closer cooperation in three central areas: on-board electro-optic systems, a code system for positively identifying the pilot flying a given airplane, and airport defense systems operating against the threat of missile fire. In the area of electro-optic systems, Israeli minister of transportation Shaul Mofaz presented the Americans with a system being currently developed by Elbit Systems. Two similar systems are being developed in the United States, but Mofaz suggested that the TSA officials test the systems to prove that the Israeli version is both more efficient and less expensive.
Mofaz also presented the system that positively identifies who is flying a plane as it enters a state’s air space, which could help detect hijacked planes such as those used during the 9/11 attacks. An additional item of discussion was the defense systems of airports from the threat of missiles. The airport defense system is a joint project of an American company and Rafael. The American company specializes in developing combat munitions, while the Israeli firm is developing the means of location and identification.
Raytheon has been promoting its Vigilant Eagle system, which is based on creating a defensive envelope around airports, an envelope within which bursts of microwaves would disrupt and confuse anti-aircraft missiles. Elbit, the company developing the electro-optic system to which Mofaz referred, is an important member of the team led by Boeing which has recently been awarded the lucrative SBInet contract.
-read more in Zohar Blumenkrantz’s Haaretz report
