A Thanksgiving day event in Kenya has led the U.S.
government to warn airports that portable rocket launchers could be used to
target commercial aircraft in the United States. Going one step further Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.), the top Democrat
on the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, Sunday requested of the Bush
administration immediate action to protect U.S. commercial aircraft. Launchers
for two Strela SA-7 heat-seeking missiles, a 30-year-old Russian design, were
found nearly a mile from Mombasa airport in Kenya after witnesses reported two
missiles had been launched at an Israeli Arkia Airlines Boeing 757-300 (with 261
on board) from a four-wheel-drive vehicle. Both missiles missed the aircraft,
although by how much depends on who you talk to -- the pilots claim the missiles
passed no closer than 100 meters, streaking off to the horizon, while at least
one passenger claimed to have seen a small explosion over the aircraft's wing.
The close-range double-miss, plus the differing witness accounts, have led to
speculation that the aircraft may have deployed countermeasures -- such as
flares -- to evade the threat. Arkia has two Boeing 757-300s in its fleet and
one served to carry Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to a meeting in Washington,
D.C., in May. The state-run Israel Armament Development Authority earlier this
year unveiled a commercial anti-missile system called Britening. Israeli air
force commander Maj.-Gen. Dan Halutz said that countermeasure technology is
available for commercial aircraft, but is only installed "on select ones."
Last spring, an SA-7 was used by suspected Al Qaeda operatives to try to
shoot an American plane as it departed Prince Sultan Air Base, south of the
Saudi capital of Riyadh. In August, a Russian Mi-26 army transport helicopter
flying in Chechnya was brought down by a Strela missile, killing 118 people.
Some have suggested it's only a matter of time ...
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A Thanksgiving day event in Kenya has led the U.S.
government to warn airports that portable rocket launchers could be used to
target commercial aircraft in the United States. Going one step further 
