The Associated Press June 03, 2007
McCarran on list for counter-terror systems study
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Homeland security officials have listed Las Vegas as one of six cities with ‘‘airports of interest'' for studying how unmanned spy planes could thwart ground-based attacks on jetliners.
The idea is to zap shoulder-launched, heat-seeking missiles with a directed-energy weapon such as a high-powered laser or microwave system, or throw them off-course with low-energy lasers carried by aircraft like a modified, unmanned Predator, said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a military information Web site.
Final proposals for the project are due Friday, with selections for contractors on June 29 and contracts awarded Aug. 17.
The Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate expects to award at least one contract for the project, with about $11 million likely to be available for an unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturer.
Front-runners include General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., producer of remotely piloted Predator spy planes, including the MQ-1 Predator, and its faster, higher-flying big brother, the MQ-9 Reaper.
Along with Las Vegas, the Department of Homeland Security identified cities with ‘‘airports of interest'' as Denver, Los Angeles, Newark, N.J., San Diego and Washington. D.C.
Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport, the sixth busiest airport in the United States, is on the list because of its concentration of passenger jet traffic.
‘‘(These airports) are sort of representative of airports that industry would have to think about as we create systems,'' said Chris Kelly, Department of Homeland Security spokesman for science and technology. ‘‘This is kind of a setup where this unmanned aerial vehicle would have to fly over.''
A Homeland Security Department announcement in late March described how countermeasure drones would loiter at more than 50,000 feet over an airport's approach and take-off space and use high-tech equipment and cameras to spot heat-seeking missiles launched by so-called, ‘‘man-portable air defense systems.''
© Copyright 2007, The Associated Press
