Oct 16 2007
Israel has selected a laser-based counter-measure system to protect civilian aircraft from enemy missiles.
Israel's Cabinet has approved a project to finance the development of the Multi-Spectral Infrared Counter-measure, or MUSIC, designed by Elbit Systems, Middle East Newsline reported.
Officials said MUSIC would replace the flare-firing system installed on several Israeli civilian aircraft. The flare-based system, dubbed Flight Guard, was installed on several jets of Israel's El Al Airlines.
But Flight Guard, developed by Israel Aerospace Industries and Israel Military Industries, was hampered by complaints from foreign countries that the flares could spark fires in communities near airports. The system was denied certification by Western states.
Israel began developing a counter-measure system for civilian aircraft after an Israeli airliner was nearly shot down by Al Qaida in 2003 in Kenya. Al Qaida was said to have fired an SA-7 toward the Israeli aircraft.
MUSIC uses a laser to blind the infrared sensor of the SA-7 and other man-portable surface-to-air missiles. El-Op said the counter-measure system could "take on 1,000 threats at once."
Under the decision, an unspecified amount of money would be relayed starting in 2008 for the 25-kilogram passive directed infrared system, meant for installation on passenger aircraft.
"Work on the system began three years ago, specifically for helicopters," El-Op vice president Yisrael Anschel said. "Adapting it for bigger aircraft, for planes, will, to all appearances, take another two years."
MUSIC, designed to protect aircraft from air- and ground-launched missiles, was developed by El-Op Electro-Optics, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems. The state-owned Rafael, Israel Armament Development Authority has dropped out of the project.