Australians Wake Up to Risks of Air Travel

THE Australian government has revealed anti-missile decoys are being considered for aircraft of its national carrier, Qantas. The investigation follows the security scare in Saudi Arabia and the attempt to shoot down an Israeli charter plane in Kenya last November when terrorists fired two Soviet-made SA-7 missiles.

The credible threat of missile attack on a Qantas aircraft taking off from Bangkok was startling news to Australians, who travel the world for work and adventure, and comes on the second anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Centre. It also became clear Qantas did not want the issue aired.

The concern was deepened when Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he also had information that the threat of an attack on Australian aircraft with a shoulder-launched missile was greater than the risk of hijacking. Systems that could send a missile off course sounded like "a pretty good idea", he said.

Senior government sources said possible support for installing decoys would be dealt with by a top-level report on aviation security to go before the federal cabinet's National Security Committee later this year. The government will examine whether it should subsidise the decoy systems. It is believed Australia will wait to see if cheaper decoy systems are developed and introduced by US airlines. At the parliamentary inquiry, the issue on-board anti-missile defence systems was taken up by Federal Transport Department officials who revealed they were holding discussions with the Defence Department and the Defence Intelligence Organisation about the threat.

As the issue ricocheted around the country, Canberra's security community down played the fears of a ground to air missile attack within Australia. Senior transport security bureaucrat Andrew Tongue said that not only were the missiles almost impossible to obtain in Australia, they required great skill to use.

In Canberra, Australia's national capital, the southern end of the main runway ends very close to a public road. Aircraft pass very low over the road as they land and take off, carrying the prime minister, government ministers and politicians attending the federal parliament.

A security expert at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Ron Huisken, downplayed fears of Canberra airport becoming a target.

Huisken said the risks could not be ruled out altogether because hundreds of the missiles were missing after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, although the chances of them appearing in Australia were significantly diminished.

Howard continued to fly between Canberra and Sydney in his government jet, therefore intelligence agencies must have assessed that the risk of missile attack was low, the security experts said. The prime minister's aircraft is never accompanied by Air Force jets.

Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon said the airline could not afford the price tag of nearly $700 million for decoy systems to protect the international fleet alone against surface-to-air missiles. He also questioned the effectiveness of the systems and said the best way to deal with the missile threat would be for governments in Australia and its region to identify potential launch sites near airports. One Australian newspaper promptly ran a photograph of a man sitting on a rock sea wall near Sydney airport, about 250 metres from the point where aircraft lift off the runway.

Man-portable air defence systems (Manpads) fire shoulder-launched missiles such as the SA-7 which take about six seconds to fire. The SA-7 uses infrared sensors to lock onto heat sources such as jet engines. It has an effective range of 5,500 metres, a maximum altitude of 4,500 metres and a top speed of 1,250km/hr.

Terrorism experts believe it is only a matter of time until there is another attempt to fire a shoulder-launched missile at a civilian aircraft. They warn little can be done to defend airports. At least 24 terrorist organisations are believed to possess the missiles. It has not been possible to stop the black market trade in the missiles. Reports from the US suggest older style missiles are available for as little as $5,000 while the more sophisticated models attract up to $50,000. The Australian Defence Department's Defence Science and Technology Organisation is developing a missile-jamming system. The Murlin, a laser capable of jamming infra-red missile sensors, has been tested successfully and should be able to protect aircraft against surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles.

The Murlin has greater potential to protect civilian aircraft than decoy systems that drop flares or metal foil (chaff). Those measures rely on the speed and agility of fighter jets to be effective. However, the shoulder-mounted missiles reach the speed of sound and would take just seconds to strike from a launch site within a few kilometres of the airport. Flares deployed at landing or takeoff would not disperse enough to lure the missile off course, the security experts said.