The Straits Times August 14, 2003
Target: Air Force One
A strike on the US President's jet was what a London dealer wanted when he sold a missile to a bogus terrorist
THE target was Air Force One, the US President's plane, and the planned date for the attack was Sept 11, to mark the strikes on the World Trade Center in New York.
This scenario emerged as a possible terror plot that a London dealer had in mind when he sold a missile to a man he believed was a Muslim terrorist.
BBC correspondent Tom Mangold, who broke the story of the sting operation which nabbed the arms dealer, reported: 'The man behind the operation was looking for terrorists who would fire the missile at Air Force One - the President's plane.'
The suspect, a British citizen, was arrested in Newark, New Jersey, for trying to smuggle a Russian-made surface-to-air missile (SAM) into the United States.
A law enforcement source told the Sydney Morning Herald: 'The guy was trying to sell shoulder-fired SAMs to people that he thought were terrorists interested in shooting down commercial American airliners.'
Western intelligence said he believed he was selling the Igla missile to a Muslim extremist.
But his 'contact' turned out to be a man from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the missile was inert. It had been supplied by the FBI as well as the British and Russian authorities in a global sting operation to nab the man.
An actual Igla 18 could bring down Air Force One, the B74 the US President uses as his personal jet, defence analysts told the BBC.
It is a state-of-the-art weapon belonging to a group of surface-to-air missiles known as SAM Sevens.
Security analyst Chris Yates of Jane's Aviation told BBC News 24: 'We have the potential for a missile strike reportedly on Air Force One or another aircraft carrying US or UK citizens. It is a worrying development.'
It could destroy anything flying up to 3km, he said.
But the FBI has dismissed reports of a plot to kill President George W. Bush.
FBI spokesman Bill Evanina said: 'There was no danger or suggestion that Air Force One was being targeted or even thought of as a target.'
But Mr Mangold said: 'If you can get the missile into the US, you have a reasonable chance of hitting Air Force One in its vulnerable take-off or landing mode.'
Mr John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a non-profit defence policy group, told Reuters that the Igla was a 'Russian version of the Stinger'. He was referring to the small US shoulder-launched missile designed for attacking aircraft at low altitudes - possibly during take-off or landing. 'It has a longer range and a more sophisticated heat-seeking sensor,' he said.
Defence analyst Paul Beaver also told the BBC that a missile like the one the dealer was trying to sell could bring down Air Force One, but it would more likely be damaged.
'They are difficult to counter-measure unless you have the right equipment, because they are very good at locking on to the heat signature of an aeroplane,' he said.
'We don't know what counter-measures Air Force One might have on it because obviously they're secret, but this is a really coherent threat.'
© Copyright 2003, Singapore Press Holdings
