In the wake of the “accidental” shooting down of the
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over rebel-held east Ukrainian last July 18, 2014,
is there a need for military style countermeasures in civilian planes?
By: Ringo Bones
Even though an ongoing investigation has yet to determine
whether the shooting down of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 by a Russian
made BUK / SAM surface-to-air missile over the pro Russian rebel held eastern Ukrainian
airspace back in July 18, 2014 is accidental or deliberate, the world’s airline
industry has since contemplated whether civilian passenger planes now need
military style protection systems. Given the capabilities of your typical
military style surface-to-air-missile or other anti-aircraft weapons systems,
is the concept even technically feasible in planes now in current use on
airline companies?
Ever since the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, the heightened
airport boarding and on-board security on passenger planes by the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security, TSA and other security agencies have since
made hijackings of planes and crashing them into buildings a thing of the past.
But back in July 18, 2014, the shooting down of the Malaysia Airlines Flight
MH17 flying at around 595 miles per hour 32,000 feet over east Ukrainian
airspace by a surface-to-air missile that can fly over 2,000 miles per hour and
can shoot down a plane flying up to 70,000 feet raised a yet unprecedented
aspect on the safety of civilian air travel yet again.
Inexplicably since 9/11, the ongoing War on Terror has seem
to have sent the global defense industry on a decline since Al Qaeda and other
similar groups doesn’t have an air force equipped with supersonic capable
fighter planes. Thus the bulk of the military aviation related spending of the
War on Terror centers around military transport planes similar to the Lockheed
Martin’s C-130 Hercules – like the Airbus A400M Military Transport that can
carry well-armed infantry troops to the terrorist’s strongholds as opposed to
engaging Osama Bin Laden in a dogfight 70,000 feet above Kandahar.
Even though military transport planes with a similar flight
envelope to your typical civilian airliner had been equipped with various
countermeasures – i.e. aluminum chaff and magnesium flare dispensers - that
enable them to evade surface-to-air missiles since the height of the Cold War,
these SAM countermeasures have yet to find their way to an Airbus or a Boeing
passenger plane owned by a commercial airline company. Near the end of the 2014
Farnborough Air Show, British aerospace firm BAE Systems said that the civilian
aviation industry needs military style protection in the wake of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 back in July 18, 2014. But even though the idea of
installing military style countermeasures on civilian airliners is technically
feasible will it be economically viable from the airline company’s perspective?
Or is this just another way for aerospace firms to make money in the post 9/11
world? Maybe civilian airlines will now start to have their radar intercept
officers to avoid them being brought down by radar guided "beam-rider" SAMs.
