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  dorpus, 3 Apr 2003 @ 2:24am

  
  

  Sounds scammy

  Correct me if I'm wrong, but modern missiles are pretty sophisticated and are no longer easily fooled by flares. A fighter jet combines its agility with launching lots of decoys to confuse the missile for a fraction of a second. Passenger planes have no such agility.
  
  Also, would we want passenger planes dumping decoys all over the crowded skies and cities? What happens when decoys get sucked into other plane engines? What if a flaming flare lands on somebody's roof, a national forest, and starts a flaming inferno?
  

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  mgallagher, 3 Apr 2003 @ 7:02am

  
  

  Scammy...perhaps

  Dorpus is right about anti-IR guidance being a combination of deployed devices and maneuvers, however it seems unlikely that a passenger jet would be attacked using a very sophisticated SAM or AAM - those get pretty pricey for the terrorist income bracket, even the wealthy ones.
  
  The bigger question to me (and the reason that commercial countermeasures sound at least a little dubious) is: when has a civilian aircraft ever been attacked by missles? The only example that comes to mind is when an Aegis destroyer in the Persian gulf accidentally shot down an Iranian passenger jet a few years ago. I may just not know of other examples, can anyone offer any?
  
  Is this a reasonable response to a real threat, or just another indulgence in paranoid fantasy? That seems to be becoming the new national passtime.

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  • 

    Mark Fox, 3 Apr 2003 @ 7:59am

    
    

    Re: Scammy...perhaps

    An Israeli plane was attacked in Kenya recently. Since the missiles missed their was some belief that the system had already been installed on the plane but that does not seem to be the case.

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  • 

    Mike (profile), 3 Apr 2003 @ 10:38am

    
    

    Re: Scammy...perhaps

    Is this a reasonable response to a real threat, or just another indulgence in paranoid fantasy? That seems to be becoming the new national passtime
    
    There have been cases (in Europe, if I remember correctly) of terrorists being caught with shoulder-mounted missiles, with plans to shoot down civilian airlines.
    
    No time right now to look up a link, but if I get a chance later, I'll see what I can find.

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    • 

      dorpus, 3 Apr 2003 @ 12:48pm

      
      

      Re: Scammy...perhaps

      Much easier way to take down an airliner: at night, fly a bunch of black kites with kevlar lines at the end of the runway. The engines will suck in the kevlar lines (cheap and widely available to kite fliers) and fail.
      

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        Tony, 3 Apr 2003 @ 1:42pm

        
        

        Re: Scammy...perhaps

        dorpus,
        
        thanks for the words of wisdom and encouragement. NOT!! Some people may have already known about this, but for that haven't you have given them the idea.

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        • 

          dorpus, 3 Apr 2003 @ 4:17pm

          
          

          Re: Scammy...perhaps

          The IRA tried to down British helicopters with kevlar lines tied to balloons. It didn't work because the rotor wash pushed the balloons away. Jet engines suck IN the air though. If a jet engine fails, it's possible for the fan blades to come apart and make the engine explode like a shotgun shell, turning the passengers and fuel tank into Baghdad Beef.
          

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  terry tharp, 7 Aug 2003 @ 5:30pm

  
  

  missile system

  Does anyone know the names of these companys working on this missile system to protect airlines. Thanks terry

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