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Israel is speeding up on-board missile defense systems for commercial planes in light of fears that Gaza terrorists have obtained anti-aircraft missiles during the recent war in Libya, defense officials told the Associated Press. It is only a matter of months before the laser-based ”C-Music” system will be installed on approximately 100 Israeli passenger planes, officials added. Video .....

Aircraft DATE:18/02/11 SOURCE:Flight International Vibrating cockpit seat proposed for pilot alerts By David Kaminski-Morrow Boeing has floated the possibility of using vibrating cockpit seats as an alternative mechanism to visual and aural indicators on the flightdeck. Its suggestion is contained in a newly published patent document that details a proposal for a module mounted beneath the pilot's seat which, once triggered, would provide a tactile signal to the crew. While the document mentions various types of alerts requiring immediate pilot action - such as terrain-avoidance or stall-warning alarms - it says there are several other instances during flight where the...

The Web site run by al-Qaida in Iraq was strangely quiet during the referendum. There were no threats against voters, no boasts of disrupting the vote. And now we know one reason why. Dijana was responsible for much of what has appeared on the Web site called "al-Qaida in Iraq," including provocative videos of suicide bombings and crucial communications to al-Qaida fighters. Here is how the al-Qaida site works: On any given day in any of a dozen cities, a suicide bomb explodes. The target is an American convoy, local Iraqi police or perhaps civilians exiting a mosque. Within minutes,...

RAF jets have been scrambled twice this month in response to terrorist alerts on passenger airliners flying over Britain, defence sources have revealed. Eurofighter Typhoons took off from the quick reaction alert base at Coningsby in Lincolnshire – one of two such bases in the UK – minutes after warnings of suspected attempts to hijack American airliners. Procedures were triggered that could ultimately lead to a decision to destroy the aircraft, to avoid mass casualties. That decision would be taken "at the highest levels of government", officials say. Though a decision would be taken by the prime minister, if he...

COPS fear that 25 British-born Muslims are plotting to bomb Western airliners. The fanatics, in five groups, are now training at secret terror camps in Yemen. It was there London-educated Umar Abdulmutallab, 23, prepared for his Christmas Day bid to blow up a US jet. The British extremists in Yemen are in their early 20s and from Bradford, Luton and Leytonstone, East London. They are due to return to the UK early in 2010 and will then await internet instructions from al-Qaeda on when to strike. A Scotland Yard source said: "The great fear is Abdulmutallab is the first of...

Attacks on nuclear power stations, oil and gas terminals, Canary Wharf and Heathrow’s control tower were being considered by leaders of the plot to blow up seven transatlantic airliners in mid-flight, a court was told yesterday. Documents found on computer memory sticks at the home of an alleged terrorist ringleader contained a list of targets across Britain – including the gas pipeline between Britain and Belgium. The man, Assad Sarwar, was said to be in contact with terrorist leaders overseas and visited Pakistan a month before his arrest as preparations for the airline attacks were being finalised. Peter Wright, QC,...

SACRAMENTO -- Attorney General Jerry Brown -- declaring instant victory on a tobacco suit Tuesday -- plans to file a complaint today demanding that U.S. regulators force airliners and other aircraft to spew lesser amounts of greenhouse gases. The attorney general's aides said Brown's main focus of fighting global warming, which has focused mostly on carbon dioxide emissions from cars and industry, would move skyward today when he files a complaint jointly with other states and environmental groups against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington. Brown is scheduled to announce the petition he's filing with the EPA at Los...

LONDON - British anti-terrorist police charged three more people late Tuesday with conspiring to commit murder in the alleged plot to blow up U.S.-bound airliners. The three — Mohammed Yasar Gulzar, Mohammed Shamin Uddin and Nabeel Hussain — were also charged with preparing to commit terrorism by helping in an alleged plan to smuggle explosives aboard the planes, police said. Eleven people have now been charged on those two counts. Four others were charged with lesser offenses, including having knowledge of a terrorist activity but not disclosing information about it. A Scotland Yard statement said Gulzar, Uddin and Hussain conspired...

What do Islamist terrorists want? The answer should be obvious, but it is not.A generation ago, terrorists did make clear their wishes. Upon hijacking three airliners in September 1970, for example, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine demanded, with success, the release of Arab terrorists imprisoned in Britain, Switzerland, and West Germany. Upon attacking the B'nai B'rith headquarters and two other Washington, D.C. buildings in 1977, a Hanafi Muslim group demanded the canceling of a feature movie, Mohammad, Messenger of God," $750 (as reimbursement for a fine), the turning over of the five men who had massacred the...

Technology developed in Tucson could soon protect airliners from being attacked by missile-wielding terrorists. Raytheon Co. on Tuesday unveiled a new, ground-based airport protection system that uses high-power microwave beams to disable shoulder-fired missiles. The Vigilant Eagle system - developed by Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems - is an affordable alternative to aircraft-based missile protection systems, a senior company official said at the Paris Air Show. The Vigilant Eagle technology "defeats the most important classes of man-portable missiles in seconds without any alteration to or involvement by the aircraft using the airport," Mike --

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Plane manufacturer Boeing said Wednesday that potential customers had shown interest in new versions of its 747 jumbo jet and mid-sized 787 Dreamliner. The interest comes from among a group of 12 carriers Boeing spoke to about the plane late last year, he added, without giving names.

U.S. to ban flame sources aboard airliners Administration will prohibit lighters, matches on all flights By Pete Williams Justice correspondent NBC News Feb. 15, 2005 WASHINGTON - In a move intended to further improve airline security, the Bush administration is preparing to ban matches, as well as lighters, for all air passengers, beginning in April.

India seems to be emerging as a hot spot for global aircraft manufacturers, not just as a market but also as a destination to outsource manufacturing and software development. While the European aircraft maker, Airbus, has started talks with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to develop components for its latest offering, the A380, in India, Boeing has awarded a new deal to the Shiv Nadar-promoted HCL Technologies to develop software for its latest aircraft, the 787 Dreamliner.

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

'Shoe Bomb' Explosives Found on Moroccan Airliner Click here for Fox News article Thursday, September 26, 2002 PARIS - Explosives of the same type as found on alleged shoe bomber Richard Reid were discovered on a Moroccan jet after passengers left the flight at an airport in eastern France, authorities said Thursday. Officials said there was enough explosive material to blow up a plane. There was no detonator attached to the 3 ounces of explosives discovered in the passenger section of a Royal Air Maroc airplane on Wednesday night after it landed at the Metz-Nancy-Lorraine airport, according to police. Judicial...

Terrorists may try using stowaways and shoulder-launched missiles to bring down airplanes, a senior Singapore official warned today. "Given the iconic status enjoyed by airports and airlines, it is paramount that all players in the global aviation industry continue to remain vigilant," the city-state's second minister for transport Balaji Sadasivan told an aviation security conference. Besides stowaways carrying explosives or weapons, or shoulder-fired missiles, Mr Sadasivan said terrorists could send a bomb by cargo. He called for increased co-operation between aviation authorities to combat such threats. Singapore, a staunch US ally, has placed air marshals on national carrier Singapore...

U.S. had hijacker tip in '99 Lead on 9-11 terrorist apparently not pursued aggressively, officials say 12:53 AM CST on Tuesday, February 24, 2004 The New York Times via Dallas Morning News By James Risen & Eric Lichtblau WASHINGTON – U.S. investigators were given the first name and telephone number of one of the Sept. 11 hijackers 2 1/2 years before the attacks on New York and Washington, but the United States appears to have failed to aggressively pursue the lead, U.S. and German officials said. The information, the earliest known signal that the United States received about any of...

U.S. government officials said yesterday they believe some of the passengers boarding one of the three Air France flights from Paris to Los Angeles that were canceled this week because of security concerns might have intended to hijack it and crash-land in Las Vegas or another city along its flight path. Police in Paris questioned 13 people who had checked in for two Air France flights that were canceled Christmas Eve because of a terrorism warning from U.S. authorities, but no evidence of wrongdoing was found, the French Interior Ministry said. All 13 were released. But U.S. officials said they...

Germany's Cabinet on Wednesday approved measures to allow the military to shoot down hijacked airliners over German airspace that are deemed to pose a threat. The bill leaves the decision to act with the federal government, not the military, under an agreement reached after weeks of talks between Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's governing Social Democrats and their junior partner, the Greens. Under the proposal, which requires parliamentary approval, the defense minister or a Cabinet-appointed deputy can decide to have the plane shot down "as a last resort." The aircraft would have to pose an immediate danger in German airspace, directly threaten...

<p>His capture was one of the civilized world's biggest coups in the War on Terror. The August arrest of Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, removed another al Qaeda killer from global circulation. Hambali was the terror mastermind behind Jemaah Islamiyah (JI, al Qaeda in Southeast Asia). The "brain" who planned the October 2002 mass murder in Bali, he served as both people "connector" and supply conduit for numerous attacks throughout the region.</p>

Protecting Airliners from Terrorist Missiles By Chris MitchellMiddle East Bureau Chief December 11, 2002 The scope of missile terror reached new heights in the twin terror attacks in Kenya two weeks ago. CBN.com – JERUSALEM — The threat of terrorist missiles is on the minds of military strategists worldwide, and Israel is especially concerned about the type of missile that can be used to shoot down jets, including airliners. The issue came front and center after terrorists used missiles against an Israeli charter plane two weeks ago. That is why Israelis are working on a defense system to protect jets...

While Israel and the USA are developing systems to protect their countries from surface-to-air missiles, Russia, as it turned out, is developing a system that will not only protects against missiles, but also attracts missiles launched from a shoulder-mounted launchers

U.S. says domestic flights also at risk from missiles But portable launchers like those used in Kenya seen as likelier abroad 11/30/2002 From Wire Reports WASHINGTON - The U.S. government warned airports Friday that portable rocket launchers could be used against airliners in the United States, even though security officials believe the risk of another attempt like the one against an Israeli jet in Kenya is greater overseas. The missiles that were fired at an airplane filled with Israeli tourists as it left Kenya's resort city of Mombasa are readily available on the international black market and relatively easy...

The head of an airline pilots' organization pressing for legislation to allow guns in the cockpits of commercial airliners has criticized the Bush administration's decision to deploy air-defense missiles and fighters over Washington, D.C., during the Sept. 11 commemoration – ready to shoot down any passenger jets that were hijacked. "On the one-year anniversary of the (9-11) attacks, the U.S. government aimed surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) at the skies" over the nation's capital "and launched armed fighters to patrol the skies over our largest cities," said Capt. Tracy Price, chairman of the Airline Pilots' Security Alliance. "The decision to 'defend' our...