Plane missile defence under review

[Wirraway]

AAP

Plane missile defence under review

Airlines and the federal government are assessing defence systems to guard against potential missile attacks on planes, Prime Minister John Howard said.

Mr Howard said such defensive systems would be expensive and there was the need to balance that cost against the potential risk.

He said the country could go bankrupt covering every conceivable possibility.

"We are carrying out right at the moment yet a further review of aviation security issues," he said on Canberra ABC Radio.

"My understanding is that the airline (Qantas), obviously with the knowledge and consent and in discussion with the government, is looking at this decoy issue. I don't want to put it any more strongly than that.

"I am not a technician. My understanding is they have the effect of sending the missile off course so it doesn't hit you. Sounds a pretty good idea."

The danger of missile attack was highlighted in Kenya last year when terrorists tried unsuccessfully to shoot down an Israeli airliner.

Large numbers of shoulder launched missiles, referred to as MANPADS (man-portable air defence systems), are believed to be in terrorist hands.

Mr Howard said the issue of missile threat to Australian airliners was raised some weeks ago.

"I recall at the time there was a very mild expression of concern from Qantas that I should even raise the issue," he said.

"I would have to agree that on my understanding of the situation the threat of something like this is probably greater than the threat of hijacking. We have to keep it in proportion."

Mr Howard said it had been suggested the greatest risk of missile attack was in Bangkok where four of the 880 air movements handled each day were Qantas flights.

He said there always had to be a cost-benefit analysis.

"This applies to things like regional airports," he said.

"It applies to all sorts of things. We are trying within the bounds of reasonableness and commonsense to cover every base we can.

"But we do live in a more volatile world. We do live in a world where these things are threats we didn't dream of a few years but we have also got to get on with our lives and not become neurotic about it.

"Trying to achieve that balance is not always easy but we are endeavouring in a commonsense way to do so."

©AAP 2003
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[Captain Gidday]

Well, that's it for aviation as a career, guys. Time to take the super and head for the beach!
My job description when I signed on didn't include getting shot at!

[Gnadenburg]

Have they worked out how to jam laser guided MANPADs?

Didn't think so. Save the pennies on what is immediatly counterable and spend the money elsewhere-intelligence, military capabilities and economic assistance to countries where poverty is creating a new wave of fundamentalism.

[Wirraway]

Fri "The Australian"

Qantas rejects PM's missile alarm
By Steve Creedy and Patrick Walters
September 05, 2003

JOHN Howard and Qantas chief Geoff Dixon appeared at odds last night about how best to deal with rising fears of missile attacks on commercial aircraft.

The differences came as the Prime Minister acknowledged the gravity of the missile threat, agreeing with claims in The Australian yesterday that the weapons posed a bigger threat than hijacking.

"I, in fact, mentioned this issue several weeks ago ... and I recall at the time there was a very mild concern from Qantas that I should raise the issue," he said. "But I did raise it and I would have to agree that on my understanding of the situation, the threat of something like this is probably greater than the threat of hijacking."

Mr Howard said Qantas and the Government were investigating devices that could thwart missiles as part of a wider review of aviation security. He warned that the Government and Qantas would have to weigh the costs as well as security considerations.

He could not guarantee the countermeasures would be employed "but we're trying, within the bounds of reasonableness and commonsense, to cover every base we can".

Mr Dixon said anti-missile systems such as those used in military aircraft were not the way to go. There was no specific intelligence Australian aviation interests at home or abroad were at risk from shoulder-fired missiles, he said.

Discussion about shoulder-fired missiles highlighted the need for a balanced approach to security, he said. "Where there is a risk, the most effective preventative strategy is for the relevant government to identify likely launch areas around airports, not for commercial airlines to install anti-missile systems such as those currently used on military aircraft," he said.

"The cost of installing such anti-missile systems is huge and their effectiveness is very uncertain."

A senior bureaucrat said yesterday the Government was constantly evaluating the threat from shoulder-held missiles.

"My feeling is, as far as we can be at the moment, we are addressing the issue across all its dimensions," the head of transport security, Andrew Tongue, told parliament's public accounts and audit committee inquiry into aviation security.

He said the Transport Department was working with other government agencies, including Defence, to understand the technical capability of shoulder-fired weapons. The US was endeavouring to assess whether such missiles had been smuggled into Southeast Asia.

Mr Tongue questioned the public perception of the shoulder-held missile threat.

"These aren't robust weapons that you can grab off the shelf, throw in a backpack, run around with, pull out of the backpack and fire them - that's the popular perception," he said.

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[Belgique]

Gnadenburg asked: "Have they worked out how to jam laser guided MANPADs?"

apparently

hit this LINK (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=99330&perpage=15&pagenumber=2)

[Wirraway]

Thurs "The Australian"

Missile risk new terror for airlines
By Steve Creedy, Aviation writer and Dennis Shanahan, Political editor
September 04, 2003

TERRORISM experts in Australia and the US believe there is a credible threat to passenger aircraft from surface-to-air missiles – and airlines and governments are not taking the risk seriously enough.

A parliamentary committee inquiry into Australia's aviation security will hear today that passengers flying into high-risk airports such as Bangkok stand a bigger chance of being shot down by a missile than of being involved in a September 11-style hijacking.

"The risk to civil aviation is much greater from (surface-to-air missiles) than it is from hijacking," Australian National University terrorism expert Clive Williams said yesterday.

The committee has already received a submission warning that 60 regional airports around Australia will be left more vulnerable to terrorism under proposed changes to air traffic control rules.

Reform of the National Airspace System would allow unidentified aircraft to land without making radio contact with control towers.

The Australian Airport Association says its members are seriously concerned about potential security breaches at airports across Australia, including Mt Isa, Albury, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Lismore, Armidale, Broken Hill, Devonport, Mildura, Mt Gambier, Coffs Harbour and Port Hedland.

The association has told the Government that one aspect of the new airspace system "could create an unintended opportunity to seriously compromise security at certain regional airports".

"The National Airspace System proposal allows access to airports and their airside areas by pilots flying in or out with no mandatory requirement to identify their aircraft or their intentions," the association said.

"At this time of heightened 'security awareness', we find it inconceivable that any government could allow any aircraft on the Australian register into the sky without i) a radio for communication purposes, and ii) a mandatory requirement to use the radio when in the vicinity of an airport."

The parliamentary inquiry into aviation security will hear today a sobering assessment by Dr Williams on the threat posed by terrorists armed with shoulder-fired missi les.

"I think there needs to be a lot more work done on this general area because of the proliferation of surface-to-air missiles and the number of people who have an interest in them," Dr Williams said.

US authorities have investigated several destinations in Southeast Asia because of fears about missile attacks but have not expressed a concern about Australia.

Dr Williams agreed there was little risk of an attack at Australian airports but said Bangkok, a major Qantas hub, was vulnerable on several fronts.

These included the availability of people willing to carry out the mission, and the vulnerability of Bangkok's international airport.

"Particularly because of the amount of arms that are trafficked through Thailand, I would say Bangkok is probably the airport I would have greatest concern about in Southeast Asia," Dr Williams said.

US intelligence agencies estimate there are up to 7000 missiles on the black market and say 27 terrorist groups, including Al-Qa'ida, are armed with the weapons.

Qantas recently reviewed and rejected existing equipment designed to protect aircraft from shoulder-fired missiles as too expensive and of dubious effectiveness.

Qantas spent $180 million on security last year, an increase of 46 per cent.

Dr Williams wants governments from target countries such as Australia, the US, Britain and Israel to combine their efforts and work out the most cost-effective way of protecting aircraft.

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