Missile defense needed for civil planes

Systems to protect commercial planes from shoulder-fired missiles are almost ready but airlines and the U.S. government may not start using them unless the public perceives an imminent threat, leading executives at two defense manufacturers said on Monday.

Airlines must have the technology to respond to missile threats -- even if they seem unlikely today -- said Walt Havenstein, who takes over as chief of BAE Systems Plc in the United States on Jan. 1.

"If somebody shoots a missile at one of our airplanes coming in off the Chesapeake Bay, and someone says 'Oh, that's what it was,' then life changes," Havenstein said at the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit in Washington.

Jim Pitts, president of the electronic systems unit at U.S. No. 3 defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp., echoed the notion that implementation would be far more likely if the traveling public actually feared missile attacks on planes.

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