CNN Money web site has a story about Northrop Grumman forecasting development of a [a href="vny!://money.cnn.com/2006/07/12/news/companies/northrop.reut/index.htm"]laser shield 'bubble'[/a] for airports and other installations in the United States within 18 months. The system will be called Skyguard — a joint venture with Isreal and the U.S. Army. It will have the capability to generate a shield five kilometers in radius.
[hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px;"]This is a HUGE waste of money and in reality won't do a damn thing to stop "terrorism". Hell, at Sea-Tac [a href="vny!://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003099653_danny02.html"]they don't even have cameras recording the drop-off and pick-up areas![/a]
But hey, lets spend a few BILLION on a "threat" that's unlikely to happen.
"A Cessna in the landing pattern with a few hundred pounds of explosives won't be detected as dangerous until it is too close to be stopped. Ditto for cars coming to the curbside loading zones."
"I have always marveled at the willingness of the military industrial complex to come up with expensive ways of guarding against rogue cruise missiles, which are expensive and unlikely compared to the simplicity of stealing a Cessna and cruising over the border like any other returning drug plane. Or pack your nuke into a stolen cargo ship, packed down in the hold under enough metal barrier cargo to keep its radiation hidden, and sail right into a harbor."
Number of US airports (vny!://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/fieds/2053.html): 14,893
Major US airports (vny!://www.fly.faa.gov/flyfaa/usmap.jsp): Approx. 40
US airports with international flights (vny!://aerospace.web.mtsu.edu/usinternational.ht[nobr]m[wbr][/nobr] ): At least 72
Minimum likely cost using low-ball $25 million per airport figure and only major airports: US$1 billion
Mid-range likely cost using higher $30 million per airport figure, and all international airports in the US: US$2.16 billion
Realistic projection, expecting a 50% cost overrun, and ~100 airports: US$4.5 billion
Potential maximum even if cost per airport is reduced to 1/10th the lowest projection, and only 1 in 4 US airports is protected: US$9.3 billion.
All this just to try and stop something that's never happened on US soil.
"Weaponizing civilian installations such as airports is a horrible idea. Sooner or later this system will accidentally shoot down a civilian aircraft. It's like weaponizing cars. You think there won't be mishaps? Increasing the number of ways an airplane can crash does not decrease the overall airplane accident rate."
