Air and Missile Defense group to host industry day.

• Position: Ndia news

With approximately 5,000 commercial, general and military aviation aircraft flying over the United States at any given time, just keeping track of them all is a job, but being able to pinpoint a bad actor is the really tough challenge.

According to Capt Rick Easton, deputy director for operations at the Joint Theater Air and Missile Defense Organization (JTAMDO), the key "is to insure that U.S. airspace is not used as an avenue of attack and to keep aircraft from becoming weapons or weapons delivery platforms for terrorists."

A large part of the counter terrorism effort has been focused on air security, to prevent a repeat of the September 11 attacks. But Barry Fridling, deputy and technical director of JTAMDO, points out that terrorists can use more than airliners for an attack. He references a recent news article about a New Zealand man who is building his own cruise missile. Reuters reported that a New Zealand handyman "with a passion for jet engines says he is building a cruise missile in his backyard using parts and technology freely available over the Internet."

Obviously, the United States wants to avert another September 11, says Fridling, "but it doesn't make sense to ignore the rest of the threats out there. We have to build a system that can address the full spectrum, from airliners to unconventional air threats and cruise missiles. And that means the military and law enforcement have to work hand in glove."

JTAMDO has been the lead Defense Department agency during the past five years for joint air defense concepts and cruise missile defense. Following the September 11 attacks, JTAMDO was directed to apply its knowledge and expertise in air defense, future technologies and joint operations to the homeland air defense mission

An Interagency Homeland Security team made up of operational, policy and senior management representatives from across federal agencies has been working over the past year and a half to address a host of issues, chief among them the air surveillance and integration of military and law enforcement operations.

One of the key products from this effort is the Interagency Homeland Security operational concept. "The IHAS Concept provides a framework for operations and a common vision on where we want to go in the future," says Easton. "Getting all the agencies hands-on involvement in writing the concept ensured we didn't miss something critical, but just as importantly, the day-to-day working environment built new...