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2004-05-05 Home Front: WoT

Bloomberg jets get anti-missile defense, poâ folks do without.

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Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2004-05-05 5:14:23 PM|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 This is a pathetic article, devoid of information, and is typical of the caliber of "reporting" done by CBS these days. It's obvious that the reporter is totally clueless about MANPADS, SAMs, etc. and the systems that defend against them. She should have stopped with Bloomberg is installing defensive systems on his corporate aircraft instead of trying to turn this into a political hit piece on Bloomberg. (Living in San Diego, I have no opinion on Bloomberg. We have our own problems with incompetent local government)

However, the MANPADS threat is real. Congress received a classified presentation on the subject after 9-11 that would make the blood of any air traveller run cold. The reporter's sources gave her a somewhat garbled version of the story. A short unclassifed summary of the situation is that there are 84 different countries that make shoulder launched surface to air missiles capable of shooting down an airliner. There are many, many (exact number is classified) of these things in circulation and it's just a matter of time until somebody pots an airliner. There are a number of systems available that can protect large multiengine aircraft from most types of MANPADS. The companies that make these systems would be more than pleased to take on the task of equipping the civil aviation fleet.

It is a testament to the government's response to the terrorist threat that our skies have been as safe as they are. And if you want first class protection for your aircraft buy the Nemesis system from Northrop Grumman in Rolling Meadows. I would be willing to bet that they would cut you a good deal to equip 6,000 airliners.

Posted by RWV 2004-05-05 6:01:21 PM|| 2004-05-05 6:01:21 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 Who cares? He's got the money; it's his business.

Too bad the reporter feels the need to make a jealous, snotty, envy-the-rich report about a rich guy who spends his own money on his own protection, but doesn't seem to have a problem with another rich guy who spends his money in a public effort to elect his own moonbat president.

But I'm not surprised. It's CBS, after all.

Posted by Barbara Skolaut 2004-05-05 6:59:04 PM|| 2004-05-05 6:59:04 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 RWV - LOL - I do bridge/road engineering for said gubbmint

Posted by Frank G 2004-05-05 7:06:54 PM|| 2004-05-05 7:06:54 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 If Bloomburg wants to slap up to 96 launchable High Temperature flares in diferent locations on his Gates Falcons. Let him.
The flares come in launchers of 12. Weight in at about 15 pounds apiece. And are usually launched
in Salvo.
Once!
The problem is that most of the latest Shoulder launched SAM warheads are now both Heat Seeking and Radar Guided.

Which is the main reason the Congressional Boondoggle to 'protect' Commercial Airliners
is being held up.

Posted by Jack Deth 2004-05-05 8:30:54 PM|| 2004-05-05 8:30:54 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 Frank G, that makes me feel better. The roads and bridges here are about the only things that work. Wish I could say the same for the rest of the infrastructure.. It's always a thrill to watch another sewer line break spill into Mission Bay.

Posted by RWV 2004-05-05 8:35:37 PM|| 2004-05-05 8:35:37 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 RWV, most of the media spends most of time opinionating on subjects they nothing or next to nothing about. Television anchors are the worst, but print journalists are a close second. Not only does it drive me nuts, I consider it extremely corrosive to society.

Posted by Phil B 2004-05-05 8:40:33 PM|| 2004-05-05 8:40:33 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 Mr. Deth, I do believe that, even though the reporterette keeps saying passive countermeasures she really means active countermeasures, not flares. The Matador system she refers to is an outgrowth of the old HAVE CHARCOAL system developed by Sanders in the 80's. Systems of that ilk use either flashing lamps or mechanically gated IR sources to emit pulses of infrared energy intended to interact with the missile seeker and spoof its guidance system. Newer systems use lasers to apply the energy pulses, but the principle is still the same - make'em think you're where you're not.

It's a viable approach but unfortunately the pulse patterns tend to be different for different missile seekers making the selection of the proper countermeasure to fool whatever missile that happens to be headed your way more difficult. Also, the pulse patterns used by the military tend to be classified and not releasable to non-DoD customers. So any system sold to other than DoD customers would have to have "generic" (read less effective) countermeasure programs rather than the first line stuff. Other than spontaneous declassification, I'm not sure how you get around that problem.

Posted by RWV 2004-05-05 8:49:57 PM|| 2004-05-05 8:49:57 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 Understand your frustration with Tecolote spills...

Posted by Frank G 2004-05-05 9:26:40 PM|| 2004-05-05 9:26:40 PM|| Front Page Top

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