Administration urged to study anti-missile devices for jets

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is being urged to spend $60 million researching the feasibility of devices to protect commercial planes from shoulder-fired missiles.

Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., chairman of the House Appropriations homeland security subcommittee, will submit a plan for funding the Homeland Security Department on Thursday that will include the money for the antimissile devices, according to a congressional staffer who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

He wants to make sure the anti-missile program for commercial aircraft is funded, the staffer said.

The Homeland Security Department said in May it should cost no more than $60 million in fiscal 2004 to award contracts, figure out how the devices could be integrated with airplanes and assess their performance against the possible threat, according to a report to Congress obtained by The Associated Press.

But the administration never specifically asked Congress for the funds and doesn't want money earmarked for antimissile devices because it wants budget flexibility, said a Homeland Security official.

Concerns about terrorists using lightweight rocket launchers to take down commercial airliners increased in November after an unsuccessful attack on a chartered Israeli jet in Mombasa, Kenya.

Hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of Soviet-style SA-7s -- heat-seeking rockets that can hit low-flying aircraft within three miles -- are said to be available on the worldwide arms market for as little as several thousand dollars.

World leaders meeting in Evian, France, this month acknowledged the threat and adopted a plan to restrict sales of the weapons.

A Homeland Security spokesman, Brian Roehrkasse, said the Bush administration is working aggressively to solve the problem.

"We are in the process of working with Congress to determine the best way to continue to counter this threat," he said.

But a Democratic congressman who co-sponsored a bill to equip U.S. airliners with anti-missile devices said the Bush administration is dragging its feet.

"Congress has been leading the administration into this every step of the way," said Rep. Steve Israel of New York.

In the report ordered by Congress, the administration identified infrared jamming devices, or DIRCMs, as the most promising technology.

The devices emit light that jam the missiles' guidance systems and are most effective against the older models that terrorists are most likely to use. They're made by Northrop Grumman and BAE, a British company, and already deployed on military aircraft and some government planes and business jets.

"To jam an SA-7 is quite feasible," said Robert Sherman, a conventional weapons expert with the Federation of American Scientists. "It's a pretty stupid missile."

This year, Congress set aside $2 million for Homeland Security to start work on the program. According to the document, the agency plans to spend that money on a special staff office.

In May, the agency announced it was looking for proposals for missile countermeasures. One or two contracts will be awarded for DIRCMs, but other concepts would be considered, the report said.

For example, electronically operated shoulder-fired missiles can be designed to require an enabling device so that the missile won't work without the code, Sherman said.

The report said the devices could be tested under live fire in 2005.

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