El Al fits fleet with anti-missile system: sources

By Dan Williams

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – El Al Israel Airlines has installed
anti-missile systems on all its planes, becoming the first
commercial carrier to field a protected fleet amid growing
fears of aviation terrorism, security sources said on
Wednesday.

They said aircraft were equipped with the Israeli-made
“Flight Guard,” which automatically releases diversionary
flares if a heat-seeking missile is detected by on-board
sensors.

Development of the system, which costs around $1 million
per unit, was stepped up after an Israeli passenger jet
survived an attempt by al Qaeda to shoot it down over Kenya in
2002.

Industry analysts say other airlines could consider such
measures too costly and unreliable. The Bush administration has
encouraged feasibility studies on similar onboard systems but
said it may opt to fit airports with missile defenses instead.

El Al, Israel’s national carrier and largest airline,
declined comment, saying it did not discuss security issues.

It was not immediately clear if five planes leased by El Al
had received the Flight Guard as well as its own 29 aircraft.

El Al is already regarded as the world’s most
security-conscious airline due to its stringent anti-hijacking
precautions — such as armed guards on all flights and very
close pre-flight checks on passenger lists.

Industry analysts say fitting military equipment to
civilian planes would pose cost problems for many airlines,
since such systems must be constantly serviced.

The likelihood of a shoulder-fired missile actually downing
a passenger jet is considered to be remote, as such aircraft
are built to withstand the loss of an engine.

An Airbus A300 cargo plane flown by U.S. delivery firm DHL
survived a missile strike over Baghdad in 2004.

Aviation sources said Flight Guard is embedded out of sight
in the plane’s body to avoid drawing attention. Its flares are
designed not to be a fire risk if they land in built-up areas.

Though Flight Guard would be effective against heat-seeking
missiles like the SA-7, produced in the former Soviet Union and
widely available in the developing world, it would not be able
to beat radar-guided missiles such as the U.S.-made Stinger.

Flight Guard was developed by state-owned Israel Military
Industries and the Elta defense firm — a unit of state-owned
Israel Aircraft Industries. El Al began installing the system
in its planes in 2004, the transport ministry said at the time.

(Additional reporting by Jason Neely in London)