BAE Systems' JetEye anti-missile protection system for commercial air transport aircraft has begun tests on American Airlines scheduled services.
Passengers will be relieved to learn that the in-service trials will not involve live missile firing - this phase of testing is designed to check "maintainability and reliability" and the system's interface with the aircraft, says the manufacturer.
BAE says JetEye, in earlier tests on non-commercial American Airlines flights and on ABX cargo aircraft, has proven to be as effective as the military system from which it is derived, but has a far greater mean time between failures and needs less maintenance.
The US Department of Homeland Security is monitoring the test programme, which now involves one American Boeing 767-200 on flights between New York Kennedy and Los Angeles International, although two more of the airline's 767s will be fitted with the system and monitored until March 2009.
The system installed in the 767s consists of a small turret on the lower fuselage that contains missile sensors, a point-and-track capability, and lasers designed to disable the missiles' guidance system. Once the system is turned on by the pilots it is automatic in operation, says BAE.
The complete installation weighs "less than 100kg [220lb]", says the manufacturer. At the end of the nine-month trial, says BAE, the DHS hopes to have sufficient information to be able to make recommendations to the airlines and the carriers will be provided with the results to enable them to make their own decisions.
Northrop Grumman, the only other bidder in this US contest to protect civil airliners from missile attack, completed its tests in March and has submitted the results to the DHS. It has shelved the project until the agency announces its decisions.
Source: Flight International
