FedEx Seeks Anti-Missile Lasers For Some Cargo Planes

Politico reports:

Package delivery giant FedEx wants to equip some of its aircraft with military-style missile countermeasures, which could allow it to continue flying over contested areas that might otherwise be closed to air traffic, according to a filing posted by the FAA.

In a notice of this “special condition” posted Friday, the FAA dryly observed that its design standards for commercial cargo planes “did not envisage that a design feature could project infrared laser energy outside the airplane” and therefore it sought special approval for this “novel design feature.”

FAA said in its filing, “The FedEx missile-defense system directs infrared laser energy toward an incoming missile, in an effort to interrupt the missile’s tracking of the aircraft’s heat.”

Read the full article.

Such systems are already in place on Air Force One and on El Al Israel Airlines planes.

FedEx wants to equip some of its aircraft with military-style missile countermeasures, which could allow it to continue flying over contested areas that might otherwise be closed to air traffic https://t.co/wa6SBEfiKF@Oriana0214

— Dave Brown (@dave_brown24) January 14, 2022