By: Sherifa El-Mofty

MANPADS are man-portable missiles that seem to be attractive in the eyes of at terrorist. Since security has been extremely tight ever since 9/11, these weapons are the one of the only ways for terrorists to continue their attacks. In order to prevent these attacks from occurring, many steps must be taken. A solution to this problem is to install certain technology on airplanes that prevent themselves from being the target of a missile, a piece of technology that could destroy the missile. It is an idea to put such technology on commercial airplanes, yet the technology must first be tested and be suitable for the environment of a commercial flight. Firstly, though, research on such an attack occurring must me made in order to determine the amount of airplanes that will need such technology. Also, this technology should also help in the capturing of the international terrorists. A technique that may also be used is to keep terrorists with abilities to handle MANPADS away from airports and any area that has weapons or aircrafts.

There are many different types of technology that will be help the prevention of an attack. These include laser jammers, which will direct the missile in a different direction. Also, Ground-based high-energy lasers, which are able to destroy approaching missiles. These two will   be available for installation on commercial airplanes but still have to be researched and tested. A problem that has come to attention is the cost of such a project of the installation of such technology. It would cost eleven billion to install laser technology on a commercial airplane. This is a lot of money to spend on just one type of attack that may or may not occur. It is a big risk to take to install this technology because it might not be worth to install if these attacks never occur.

In my opinion, this technology should not be installed onto the airplanes because the cost is too much, and it may not prevent any attacks from happening. The terrorists may find other means of attacking that will not be prevented through the use of such technology. Also, this will only prevent aircrafts from being attacked, but how about the civilians who are not on the aircrafts? There must be a way to protect all people from the effects of terrorism.