Anti-missile program for airliners on a fast track.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.

Under pressure from Congress to deploy anti-missile systems rapidly on commercial airliners, the Department of Homeland Security is expected to award multiple contracts by year's end.

So far, however, it is uncertain whether any of the available technologies to defeat man-portable air defenses (manpads) can be installed on commercial aircraft without burdening the airlines with billions of dollars in future maintenance and operations costs. The procurement of defensive systems alone could cost the U.S. government anywhere from $3 million to $8 million per aircraft, experts estimate, although several companies claim to have cheaper solutions.

Under the Department of Homeland Security's counter-manpads program, two or more contractors--to be selected in late December--will receive $2 million each to develop detailed proposals over the next six months, outlining exactly how they would go about installing protective devices and how the systems would be integrated into day-to-day airline operations.

"DHS is in a very sensitive position," said an industry expert. "They have a tremendous amount of pressure being put on them by Congress to get this thing on contract before Christmas." Congressmen want to prove to the American public that they are addressing the problem.

The problem, in this case, is the widespread fear of shoulder-fired missiles, which have threatened military aircraft for decades, but have not until recently been viewed as a menace to commercial passenger jets. A shoulder-fired missile was fired in November 2002 against a civilian Israeli jetliner, in Mombasa, Kenya. DHS officials, nevertheless, concede that they do not have explicit intelligence about manpads threats aimed at U.S. airliners.

The department has "no specific, credible information about planned manpads attacks against U.S. commercial interests--but they remain a concern for the foreseeable future," according to an October 15 briefing that DHS officials gave to potential contractors, in Washington, D.C.

Since 1978, 35 commercial aircraft (mostly propeller aircraft) have been targets of non-terrorist attacks in war zones. The attack on the Israeli jetliner was the first manpads launch against a commercial aircraft outside of a combat zone, said the DHS briefing. Meanwhile, "the potential for terrorist attack grows as we increase measures to counter onboard bombings and hijackings."

Shortly after the Mombasa incident, an interagency task force--led by Penrose C. Albright, DHS assistant secretary for plans, programs and budget--was formed to examine available options to equip airliners with infrared countermeasures, which have been used on military aircraft for decades, to deflect heat-seeking missiles.

The Defense Department has a major advisory role in the task force, taking advantage of the Pentagon's expertise in this arena.

"We gave them a baseline against which to draw conclusions and make some judgments about how to proceed, what kind of technologies are applicable to commercial air," said a Defense Department official who participated in the task force, and asked to not be quoted by name. The Pentagon also advised DHS on how to "engage industry," the official said. "We provided recommendations on how to structure solicitations and how to define requirements."

The Pentagon plans to let DHS benefit from military investments in counter-manpads systems, he added.

Once the DHS contractors complete the six-month study phase, two will be selected for a subsequent 18-month "prototype development and qualification" program, after which they will demonstrate and test-fly two prototype systems. In this phase of the program...