A FedEx cargo plane equipped with a defense system that protects commercial aircraft from Shoulder Fired Missiles (SFMs) took off from Los Angeles International Airport earlier this week. The laser-based system — designed by Northrop Grumman and called ‘Guardian’ — detects incoming missiles with laser technology that in turn reroutes the missile away from the aircraft. The system addresses what security analysts consider a growing threat from SFMs against commercial planes. Northrup Grumman designed the missile defense system under contract from the Department of Homeland Security.

Photo: Stinger Shoulder Fired Missile

Of the 500,000-700,000 SFMs in existence (also called surface-to-air missiles), the vast majority sit in secure military facilities around the world. However, US military analysts believe there are thousands available on the black market — including ones once controlled by Saddam Hussein.

From a 2004 report in The Washington Post:

“Some U.S. analysts figure that as many as 4,000 surface-to-air missiles once under the control of Saddam Hussein’s government remain unaccounted for. That would raise the number of such missiles outside government hands worldwide to about 6,000.”

ABC reports that a total of twenty-four commercial aircraft have been taken down by SFMs since 1980. Five hundred people have been killed. In November 2005, an American Airlines pilot departing Los Angeles International Airport with a plane load of passengers reported seeing something ‘like a rocket’ coming at his aircraft. The FBI opened an investigation, one which remains open. Of the incident, Senator Barbara Boxer — a member of the Senate Subcommittee on Aviation — told ABC, “We had a scare in Los Angeles. We’ve been told that they cannot rule out the fact that it was a shoulder fired missile.”

A Shoulder Fired Missile weighs approximately fifty pounds and fits into a ski bag.

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