U.S. to seek airliner anti-missile devices WASHINGTON (AP) =97 High-tech companies will be asked to propose ways to=20 protect commercial planes from shoulder-fired missiles, lawmakers said=20 Thursday. The Homeland Security Department also will ask two companies to= =20 build prototype devices, they said. "This is a real breakthrough," said=20 Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who is co-sponsoring a bill to equip 6,800=20 U.S. airliners with some form of anti-missile device. The cost is estimated= =20 at $10 billion. Military aircraft use anti-missile technology, but the=20 cost is high and the reliability open to debate. Still, since last fall's=20 unsuccessful missile attack on an Israeli passenger jet in Africa,=20 lawmakers and safety advocates have been pressing the government to look=20 into the technology. The federal study was ordered in April by Congress as part of the spending= =20 plan for the war in Iraq. Homeland Security spokesman Brian Roehrkasse did= =20 not release any details from it but said "the report provides a plan to=20 determine if a viable technology exists to be deployed on commercial=20 aircraft." Schumer, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Rep. Steve Israel,=20 D-N.Y., said they were briefed on the study, and they held a news=20 conference to discuss the findings. Under their bill, the government would= =20 pay to retrofit commercial airliners now in the fleet, but would require=20 the airlines to pay for the devices, which cost $1 million each, on new=20 aircraft, Schumer said. U.S. airlines, most of which are in financial trouble, say the government=20 should pay all costs related to the devices if it is determined they should= =20 be placed on commercial planes. "Aviation security is a national defense=20 function," said Debby McElroy, president of the Regional Airline=20 Association. The head of the worldwide organization that represents U.S.=20 and foreign-owned airlines said the legislation is well-intended but=20 ineffective. "It would be prohibitively expensive for states to underwrite= =20 and very difficult for governments to stay ahead of technologies which=20 continually churn out new instruments of war," said Giovanni Bisignani,=20 chief executive of the International Air Transport Association. John Pike,= =20 director of Globalsecurity.org, a defense policy group, said infrared=20 devices used to protect Air Force cargo planes from shoulder-fired missiles= =20 could be used on civilian aircraft. They are not as effective against the= =20 latest generation of more accurate missiles, but a new generation of=20 laser-guided anti-missile devices is in the works, Pike said. Pike believes all 10,000 commercial passenger planes in the world need to=20 be armed with the devices to reduce the threat to Americans. Last=20 November, terrorists fired two missiles that just missed an Israeli charter= =20 plane after it took off from Mombasa, Kenya. Officials believe al-Qaeda=20 launched the attack, which coincided with a bomb blast at a nearby=20 hotel. El Al, the Israeli airline, is believed to have anti-missile=20 technology on its passenger aircraft. The State Department on Wednesday=20 told Americans to defer nonessential travel to Kenya because of indications= =20 of terrorist threats against U.S. and Western interests, including=20 commercial planes. Hundreds and perhaps thousands of Soviet-style SA-7s =97= =20 heat-seeking rockets that can hit low-flying aircraft within 3 miles =97 are= =20 said to be available on the worldwide arms market for as little as several= =20 thousand dollars. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.cso.gov.tt TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************