"Heathrow a soft target for missile attack"

Wednesday, February 12, 2003 

Rocket ambush fears for UK airport
NewScientist.com news service 


British armed forces are patrolling the perimeter of Heathrow Airport near
London, following what officials described as "increased intelligence
chatter" between terrorist suspects linked to Al-Qaeda.

The presence of more than 450 soldiers in armoured vehicles and 1300 police
at one of the world's busiest airports has led to widespread speculation
that terrorists might attempt to shoot down a passenger jet using a
shoulder-launched rocket.

In November 2002, a rocket attack of this type on an Israeli airliner only
narrowly missed its target as the plane took off from Mombassa Airport in
Kenya. Officials have also speculated that an attack could be timed to
coincide with the five-day Muslim festival of sacrifice, Eid al-Adha, which
began on Monday.

However, some experts fear the increased patrols are unlikely to foil any
attempted attack. Jim O'Halloran, editor of Jane's Land-Based Air Defence,
says countermeasures fitted to airplanes may be the only protection against
terrorists armed with such crude yet effective weapons. 

One Israeli company, Rafael, began offering a type of infrared jamming
system to commercial airlines in February.

Quick and simple 

O'Halloran says ground patrols would have trouble catching attackers armed
with shoulder-mounted rockets at an airport of this size. The airport's four
terminals cover 12 square kilometres and its perimeter stretches to open
public spaces such as Windsor Great Park.

The Mombassa attack involved a shoulder-mounted Russian Strela-2. Though
outmoded, this weapon is quick and simple to use, O'Halloran says. "In less
than 30 seconds, the rocket is on its way and they've gone," O'Halloran told
New Scientist. 

The Strela-2 has a range of up to 5.5 kilometres and automatically locks
onto a heat-emitting target, such as a jet engine. Its range means it could
be successfully fired a point well away from the airport.
 
O'Halloran believes the perceived risk of such an attack is now so great
that commercial airlines will soon start to fit military countermeasures to
aircraft to foil rocket attacks. 

Specifically, he believes systems designed to jam a rocket's homing system
will be adopted. These automatically detect a missile's launch and emit
energy to throw a rocket's infrared sensor off course.

O'Halloran says the fear of loosing an aircraft filled with passengers will
outweigh the substantial cost of fitting such systems to airplanes. "That's
the only thing they can do, and they've got to do it," he says.

A more expensive and less proven alternative would be a land-based laser
defence system. US and Israeli forces have successfully tested a
high-intensity laser system designed to detect and destroy missiles, and
even artillery fire.


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