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Israel's El Al to Install Defensive Systems on Aircraft

Posted on: Sunday, 4 December 2005, 12:00 CST

Text of report by Ami Ettinger headlined "El Al to install defensive systems on six aircraft this week" published by Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv on 4 December

Israel's national carrier El Al will install an anti-missile protection system on six of its aircraft next week.

On 2 December, Israel's Civil Aviation Administration [CAA] conducted the final test of a civilian aircraft defensive system against ground-to-air missiles. Israel's military already employs this system and the process of converting it for use on civilian aircraft started in 2002, after Al-Qa'idah tried to shoot down with missiles an Israeli airliner taking off from Mombasa, Kenya. The system, known as Flight Guard, is currently employed in one El Al plane.

The Israel Airports Authority will soon request that its foreign counterparts approve the use of the defensive systems in their air space. At this stage, foreign aviation authorities, including the USA, are opposed to the use of the system. El Al will soon decide to install the system on the rest of its fleet. In future, the company intends to install an even more sophisticated system developed by El Op and Rafael [Armament Development Authority]

Source: BBC Monitoring Middle East

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