EADS and Lufthansa to Offer Defense Systems for Planes

Responding to the threat of terrorist attacks, the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) and German airline Lufthansa plan to offer a defense system for civil aircrafts. The system will include warning sensors, which can detect approaching missiles. A central computer would respond by automatically releasing dummy missiles to detract projectiles from their target and avert collision. On Nov. 22, an airbus jet belonging to the German courier service DHL had to make an emergency landing in Iraq after being fired upon by a surface-to-air missile and on Nov. 28, 2002, an Israeli airplane barely managed to escape two anti-aircraft missiles while taking off from Mombasa airport in Kenya.