-Caveat Lector- Boxer wants anti-missile technology on all U.S. commercial jets
http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/5911120p-6873543c.html By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer Published 3:40 p.m. PST Friday, January 17, 2003 WASHINGTON(AP) - Sen. Barbara Boxer wants to equip all 6,800 U.S. commercial jet airliners with technology to protect them from a missile attack. The proposal would cost taxpayers $7 billion - about $1 million a plane, Boxer said. In the meantime, Boxer said the government should use Coast Guard and National Guard units to patrol airport perimeters to prevent attacks. "We need to act before an American airliner is downed," Boxer wrote Friday in a letter to Adm. James Loy, head of the Transportation Security Administration. Though security has been tightened considerably at airports since the Sept. 11 attacks, passenger planes still are seen as vulnerable to missiles that could be launched from outside an airport's perimeter. Federal officials are looking at various options to protect them. Michael Wascom, spokesman for the Air Transport Association, the airlines' trade association, said he has not seen Boxer's proposal, but the airlines have been working closely with the government. "Any technology decisions in this regard will appropriately be made by government, not the airlines," Wascom said in a statement. The government has long been concerned about the possibility of a shoulder- fired missile taking down a plane. It stepped up efforts to protect planes, although officials would not provide details, after an unsuccessful attack on an Israeli jet in Kenya in November. A task force that includes the National Security Council, the White House office of homeland security, the FBI and transportation safety agencies has been assembled to come up with more ideas. Homeland Security spokesman Gordon Johndroe said his office would examine Boxer's proposal, which she hopes to introduce in the coming weeks. "We have an interagency working group that has been looking at this issue for some time and will continue to look at the appropriate countermeasures to address this potential threat," Johndroe said. Boxer said the cost in human life and confidence in U.S. aviation would be enormous if such an attack were to succeed. And, she said, shoulder-fired missiles are relatively cheap and plentiful. "My view is we can't stop everything bad from happening, but we can take prudent measures," the California Democrat said in an interview. She acknowledged her proposal would be expensive, but said it would be far cheaper than the president's proposed $674 billion tax cut and well worth the cost in terms of reassuring airline passengers. The bill would require airlines to start installing equipment by the end of the year. Boxer said she did not know how long it would take to retrofit every plane. New planes also would be required to carry countermeasures, and airlines, not the government, would bear the cost, she said. "A new 777 costs $150 million. It's only $1 million in a $150 million plane," Boxer said. She did not describe the technology involved in her plan. Shoulder-fired missiles are relatively cheap and easy to use. Hundreds and perhaps thousands of SA-7s - heat-seeking rockets that can hit low-flying aircraft within 30 miles - are available to terrorists on the worldwide arms market. Terrorists fired two SA-7 missiles that narrowly missed an Israeli passenger jet after it took off from Mombasa, Kenya, on Nov. 28. Officials concluded that al- Qaida was probably behind the attack, which was launched from a four-wheel drive vehicle one mile from the airport. In the spring, suspected al-Qaida operatives used an SA-7 to try to shoot down an American plane taking off from Prince Sultan Air Base, south of the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh. The discovery of the attempt prompted the FBI to issue a bulletin to U.S. police departments on May 22, urging them to be vigilant. U.S. airports are being surveyed now to assess their vulnerability, officials have said, and airport security personnel have been put on alert. --- On the Net: Transportation Security Administration: http://www.tsa.dot.gov Sen. Boxer: http://boxer.senate.gov A<:>E<:>R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forwarded for your information. The text and intent of the article has to stand on its own merits. Therefore, unless I am a first-hand witness to any event described, I cannot attest to its validity. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. 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