Next up: Hellfire missiles on traffic copters.
Jet with anti-missile system leaves LAX
An MD-10 cargo jet equipped with Northrop Grumman’s Guardian anti-missile system took off from Los Angeles International Airport on a commercial flight Tuesday, the company said.
The FedEx flight marked the start of operational testing and evaluation of the laser system designed to defend against shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles during takeoffs and landings.
Adapted from military technology, Guardian is designed to detect a missile launch and then direct a laser to the seeker system on the head of the missile and disrupt its guidance signals. The laser is not visible and is eye-safe, the company said.
Can I ask a STUPID question….
Which would kill more….
Spotting 1 aircraft in flight….Or 1 landed, that is sitting next to 20 others???
sitting on the tarmac, are 20+ aircraft being fueled, boarded, unboarded, sitting in a LINE…..waiting for 1 small explosion…WHERE this unit just DONT WORK…
Great stuff! And I agree with #7… a hellfire missile back to the launch site would have been a cool feature.
33,
You wouldn’t use a heat-seeker against a ground target, and tarmac security is a different matter requiring different countermeasures.
34,
The proper missile to use is called the AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile, or HARM.