Missile Protection for Civilian Aircraft

December 1, 2011

C-MUSIC: Commercial-Multi Spectral Infrared Countermeasure against shoulder-fired missiles Called the C-Music, it is designed for both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters and is expected to be available on the market shortly, having already received the necessary certification from civil aviation authorities around the world, said Adi Dar, general manager of El-Op Ltd.

Two years ago, the Israeli government awarded a US $79 million contract to El-Op—a wholly owned subsidiary of Elbit Systems, one of the world’s top 50 defense contractors—to develop the missile defense system for commercial passenger liners operating by the Israeli airlines El Al, Arkia and Israir as part of a “Sky Shield” air transport defense plan. The impetus for developing a missile defense system for commercial airliners came following the attempt by Al-Qaida to shoot down an Israeli passenger plane in Mombasa, Kenya in 2002.

In October, El-Op gave journalists a look at the system, which is in its final stages of development. Mike Yanuv of El-Op, said C-Music was an acronym for Commercial-Multi Spectral Infrared Countermeasure against shoulder-fired missiles. It is based on what is known as the DIRCM, or directional infrared countermeasure system. “This system is being installed on all the civilian air liners in Israel,” he said.

It works by detecting and tracking any shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile launched at the host aircraft. When the missile gets within a certain range, C-Music fires a laser directly at the missile’s seeker, deflecting it from the plane. It has a smaller design turret for helicopters, business, and special mission aircraft and a larger self-contained pod for commercial airliners, aerial tankers, and large business aircraft.

El-Op declined to give the price for the system, but Israeli reports have said each one costs about US $1.2 million. “It has potential, but it is expensive,” aviation expert Danny Shalom told The Media Line. “In Israel, the government is footing the bill for the system. Commercial airliners around the world would need to be obligated to install this by their governments or given subsidies before I can see sales taking off there.”

Arie Egozi, an aviation writer for the Israel Defense Web site, added that commercial aviation companies are likely to be reluctant to acquire it since they don’t yet see that serious a threat. The pod would also cut into revenue, since it takes up the space equivalent to three passenger seats.

Shoulder-fired anti-aircraft rockets
www.wikipedia.org/Rama According to U.S. State Department figures, more than 40 civilian planes have been hit by surface-to-air missiles since the 1970s. Shalom said the missing anti-aircraft missiles in Libya constituted a very serious threat to global aviation. Dar acknowledged that while the military market was fertile, commercial airlines are taking their time about purchasing the technology because the need for protection from missiles had not yet been driven home.

Source: Excerpts of an article by Arieh O’Sullivan, The Media Line