The MANPAD threat
After nukes, greatest concern is shoulder-fired missiles
Top level
G2 Headlines
Author: Joseph Farah
© 2005 G2 Bulletin
Publishing date: 16.02.2006 00:20
U.S. government sources estimate there are as many as 750,000 man-portable air-defense systems in arsenals worldwide. They are often called MANPADS, and they are quickly becoming the next nightmare – second only to nuclear weapons – for those involved in counter-terrorism planning.
The State Department estimates that more than 40 civilian aircraft have already been hit by such weapons since the 1970s. Many officials and intelligence community experts say MANPADS post the most significant threat from terrorists beside nuclear weapons. “The spread of weapons of mass destruction and conventional weapons like shoulder-fired missiles, quite frankly, may be the gravest threat to our country today, especially if those weapons end up in the hands of terrorists,” said Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., at a recent hearing on the proliferation of such weapons.
At a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Robert Joseph, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, boasted about U.S. efforts recently to destroy or disable 17,000 at-risk MANPADS. He also said State has commitments by other countries to destroy more than 7,000 more. That still leaves nearly three-quarters of a billion in unaccountable arsenals around the world – any one of which can take down a commercial airliner full of civilians. “MANPADS represent a tremendous threat,” said Joseph. “We've got to deal with it. There's no question about it.
But the consequences of, you know, a coordinated attack using MANPADS would be -- would be very significant, some could say would be catastrophic. But I think the use of even a single nuclear weapon against an American city would be greater. And I think we've got to place our priorities in that framework.” He added: “Other than stopping weapons of mass destruction, I personally do not think that there is, in the area that I work, a higher priority in keeping MANPADS out of the hands of the wrong people.” Because it’s considerably easier to sneak a MANPAD into the U.S. than a nuclear weapons, the aviation industry and Homeland Security are taking notice.
Later this year, two airports in Houston are slated to become the first in the nation with a new perimeter security system that combines the inclusiveness of ground-based radar with the analytic capabilities of intelligent video. And one of the things they will be looking for is shoulder-fired missiles. Houston's largest airport, IAH, has a big problem -- about 30 miles of perimeter fence. That translates into about 11,000 acres of land just beyond the fence that needs to be watched. But the new system will allow nearly full coverage for threats like MANPADS.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, meanwhile, has also commented on the growing threat to commercial airliners. He believes the costs of developing and deploying anti-missile technologies for commercial airliners should be shared among the federal government, local and state governments and industry. The Homeland Security Department will spend $110 million developing anti-missile technologies this year, after already spending a combined $121 million studying them the last two.
The department has still not decided how widely to employ the technology. It is estimated it would cost $11 billion to install the systems on all commercial airliners in the U.S. and then $2.1 billion annually to maintain them.
