Raytheon Co., Northrop Grumman Corp.
and BAE Systems Plc are among eight corporations vying for part of
a $60 million U.S. contract to develop and install antimissile
systems on commercial jets, the companies said yesterday.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is seeking bids to
help prevent terrorist strikes on passenger planes after a failed
attempt to shoot down an Israeli aircraft at Mombasa, Kenya, in
November. Law enforcement officials said operatives of the al-
Qaeda terrorist network, using two Soviet-style SA-7 shoulder-
launched missiles, failed to hit the plane with more than 260
passengers.
The threat terrorists pose to commercial aircraft led
President George W. Bush in April to direct the department to
begin developing an antimissile program for the nation’s almost
6,800 commercial aircraft.
As much as $60 million may be available in the fiscal year
that begins Oct. 1 for research and development of an antimissile
system for commercial airplanes. The final cost won’t be known
until U.S. House and Senate negotiators complete an appropriations
bill for the Department of Homeland Security later this year.
Raytheon, the Lexington, Massachusetts-based military
contractor, is proposing a system that would foil incoming
missiles by dropping flares, said David Shea, a company spokesman.
The system, relying on radar, would cost less than $1 million for
each plane, he said.
BAE Systems of North America, based in Rockville, Maryland,
and Los Angeles-based Northrop-Grumman each submitted plans that
use infrared jamming technology, such as the systems used on some
military aircraft.
Bloomberg News
