FedEx Tests Anti-Missile System on Commercial Carrier
By Jane Roberts, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.
Jan. 17–FedEx Corp. kicked off the first operational test of an anti-missile system on a commercial carrier Tuesday when one of its planes took off from Los Angeles.
The MD-10 is equipped with a laser system designed by Northrop Grumman Corp. to defend against shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles during takeoffs and landings.
The test is part of $81.4 million the company has received so far from the Department of Homeland Security to install missile defense systems on the nation’s commercial carriers.
“For the first time, we will be able to collect valuable logistics data while operating Guardian on aircraft in routine commercial service,” said Robert L. DelBoca, vice president and general manager of Northrop’s Defensive Systems Division.
Northrop has been in the test stage for 16 months, using a ground-based missile surrogate to simulate a missile launch during takeoffs and landings on MD-11s, MD-10s and 747 aircraft.
In each case, the company said, the technology has functioned as designed.
From now until March 2008, it will test the system, a teardrop pod that sits on the belly of the plane behind the landing gear, on nine FedEx planes, gathering data over 12,000 flight hours.
FedEx is the subcontractor in the Northrop project, designing installation for the system and completing the Federal Aviation Administration certification.
“Not many people know this but FedEx is a pre-eminent aviation engineering firm as well as the world’s largest cargo company,” said Jack Pledger, Northrop spokesman.
“They did all the flight testing, designed the installation for the aircraft and did the FAA certification,” he said.
DHS mandated that this phase of the test be done on freighter planes. The next phase will include passenger planes.
While DHS officials have repeatedly said that no credible evidence exists of a planned missile attack in the United States, most national security experts and lawmakers believe the threat is real because a large number of the shoulder-fired missiles are available on the black market.
The worry includes the loss of life and the economic consequences that would result if the public lost confidence in aviation.
—–
To see more of The Commercial Appeal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.commercialappeal.com.
Copyright (c) 2007, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
FDX, NOC,