The Political-Security Cabinet met on Sunday to discuss the possibility of equipping civilian airliners on the Tel Aviv-Eilat route with anti-missile systems, but have not yet reached a consensus on the matter. There are a variety of defense systems available, and while their security methods differ, what they all share is an extremely high cost -- both in the short-term, for installation, and in the long-term, by increasing fuel consumption. The Transportation and Finance Ministries, which together received a security briefing on Sunday, have yet to decide who will cover the systems' steep costs, should they vote to implement them. Anti-missile systems on civilian aircrafts costs an estimated $1-1.5 million per plane. "Protecting civilian aircraft, despite the clear security risks [posed against the aircraft], is a tricky business," said a government official. "First of all, some of the aircraft companies refuse to have the system installed on their planes. Second, the systems change the aerodynamics of the aircraft -- increasing fuel consumption and costing the airlines more money." Defense firm Elbit Systems has developed a system that utilizes laser beams to disrupt an incoming missile's trajectory and divert it from the airplane. The Elbit system was originally developed for El Al airlines routes considered to be high-risk. Another Elbit defense program, C-MUSIC, is an aircraft defense system based on the MUSIC military system that thwarts shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles with infrared technology that steers them off course. The Elbit system is in its final stages of development and is expected to be operational by the end of year. It was unveiled at the Paris Air Show this year following successful test flights. After the 2002 Mombasa attack, in which a group of terrorists car-bombed an Israeli-owned hotel in the Kenyan city, while simultaneously firing two SA-7 shoulder-fired missiles at an Israeli charter plane, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) created its own aircraft defense system. The two Mombasa missiles missed their target, but the incident highlighted the necessity of missile defense for civilian planes. Airlines balked at the idea, however, citing the danger of landing aircraft equipped with a system loaded with flares. As a result, the IAI system has since been gathering dust.
