The terrorist missile threat
December 8, 2005| By The Heritage Foundation
Heritage analyst Alane Kochems
Worries about terrorists shooting down commercial airliners with shoulder-fired missiles are justified, Heritage analysts Alane Kochems and David Gentilli report. Shoulder-fired missiles (in military terminology, man-portable air defense systems or MANPADS) are easily obtainable around the world and have been used by terrorists to bring down civilian aircraft.
The uncertainty caused by unanswered legal and policy questions may deter companies from developing technology to counter shoulder-fired missiles, Kochems and Gentilli write.
By addressing the legal issues related to export controls and providing clear guidelines for deployment, Congress, the DHS, and the State Department can remove some of the obstacles that inhibit the technological improvements needed to deploy an integrated system to counter MANPADS.
Read the paper
- Alane Kochems and David D. Gentilli, "When Government Regulations Hinder Security: Shoulder-Fired Missile Defenses," December 7, 2005
