Washington, Jan 15: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the US has indicated that FedEx, an American transport, e-commerce and services conglomerate, has sought permission to add an anti-missile system in some of its cargo planes.
The FedEx missile-defence system directs infrared laser energy toward an incoming missile in an effort to interrupt its tracking of the aircraft’s heat, CNN quoted the FAA as saying in a statement on Friday.
In 2003, a surface-to-air missile slammed into the left wing of an Airbus A330 just after takeoff from Baghdad but no harm had reported to crew members.
“In recent years, in several incidents abroad, civilian aircraft were fired upon by Man-Portable Air Defence Systems,” the FAA said.
“This has led several companies to design and adapt systems like a laser-based missile-defence system for installation on civilian aircraft to protect those aircraft against heat-seeking missiles.”
The FAA said it will hear the public before allowing “a system that emits infrared laser energy outside the aircraft as a countermeasure against heat-seeking missiles” on aircraft.
