[Infowarrior] - DHS: Drones could defend airports

[Richard Forno]

(I'm not sure what's worse --- this entire concept or the fact it's named
after a pop-culture, pro-torture TV program..........rf)


Drones could defend airports
By Mimi Hall, USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2007-03-22-unmanned-drones_N.htm

The Homeland Security Department and the military this summer will test
whether drones flying 65,000 feet above the nation's busiest airports could
be used to protect planes from being shot down by terrorists with
shoulder-fired missiles.

Dubbed "Project Chloe" after a character on Homeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff's favorite TV show, 24, the anti-missile strategy is the
latest to be explored by government leaders looking to thwart potential
missile threats at commercial airports. Other methods are being considered,
but Homeland Security officials say they may be too costly or impractical.

The drones, to be tested over the Patuxent River Naval Air Station outside
Washington, would be outfitted with missile-warning systems and possibly
anti-missile lasers that could send plane-bound missiles veering off course,
says Kerry Wilson, a deputy administrator of Homeland Security's
anti-missile program.

An unmanned plane's warning indicators could pick up the ultraviolet plume
from a missile's rocket booster and trigger an anti-missile laser, which
could be shot from the drone or from a site on the ground. That laser would
lock on to the missile, essentially blinding it.

The tests follow four years of research on anti-missile laser systems that
could be mounted on the bellies of planes for $1 million or more per plane.

Those systems, regularly used by the military, are being tested on nine
Federal Express cargo planes to see how well they hold up. Early military
tests showed they broke down after 300-400 hours of use, a failure rate
that's problematic for commercial use.

Concerns about those systems prompted officials to look for a less
expensive, more reliable solution, and using unmanned aerial vehicles "is an
idea worth looking at," Wilson said.

Project Chloe has critics in Congress and in private industry.

Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., says the government should share the cost of
installation and maintenance of the more expensive systems with the airline
industry. "It's been four years of trying to figure out how to get this
cheaper," he says. "But it's just a matter of time before a shoulder-fired
missile becomes the biggest blow to our economy."

Aviation groups have expressed concerns about drones in civilian airspace.
Chris Dancy of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association says there would
be no problem with drones flying at 65,000 feet, well above the altitude of
commercial jets. He said he was concerned, however, about how airspace would
be restricted when the drones take off and land.

Inexpensive, widely available shoulder-fired missiles have been used against
passenger and cargo planes overseas. Although no one has tried to take down
a plane in the USA, Homeland Security is concerned about the possibility.