ARI EGOZI/TEL AVIV
Airbus has issued a request for information (RFI) on countermeasures systems that can defeat man-portable air defence systems (manpads) such as those used in the attack on an Arkia Boeing 757 airliner taking off from Mombasa last November.
Meanwhile, Israel's Elop has entered the increasingly crowded civil countermeasures market with a laser-based system.
The European manufacturer refuses to name the manufacturers it has approached, but sources at Israeli manufacturer Rafael say it has received the RFI for its Britening directed infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) system. Rafael and Northrop Grumman have already won US Department of Homeland Security contracts to develop commercial aircraft DIRCM systems (Flight International, 20-26 May).
Airbus will not reveal whether any customers have requested countermeasures system information and says it is researching what is available "in case there is a question" from an operator.
Boeing Business Jets, which supplies Boeing 737-based corporate aircraft, says: "We have had discussions on this subject with several customers, including government customers. It would be done either as part of a completion centre package or it could be done through Wichita. So far we have not actually had any customers that have fitted anything like that."
At last week's G8 conference in Evian, France, the world's eight major economic powers agreed to exercise tighter control on the export or transfer of manpads, ensuring they go only to approved state end-users.
Elop, meanwhile, has completed a critical stage in the development of its Multi-Spectral Infrared Countermeasures (Music) laser-based system.
Like other systems, Music is automatic and detects, acquires, tracks and counters an incoming missile without pilot intervention. By directing a narrow laser beam at the missile, Music jams the weapon's guidance system, causing it to veer off course and miss the aircraft. Joseph Ackerman, president of Elop parent Elbit Systems, says the system can counter a wide range of missiles, and adds: "We are looking for a partner and then we will begin the certification process."
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY DAVID LEARMOUNT
Source: Flight International
