.@SenatorKirk says he’ll press FAA to install anti-missile defenses on commercial airliners http://t.co/5eJ3B94iK8 via @timstarks #MH17

— Roll Call (@rollcall) July 18, 2014

OFFS.

The airlines balk on upgrading their plane navigation systems so that they can do NEXTGEN, which would save everyone time and money in the long run for direct routing, but now we’re supposed to believe that the threat from flying through war zones (which doesn’t describe the US btw) is so bad that we need to install anti-missile tech on all civilian airlines.

Israel installed countermeasures on its flights, but that’s because those planes are the official airlines of a country whose citizens, property, and territory is under constant threat and attacks occur all too frequently. It’s not an insubstantial cost either.

In fact, Israel appears to have installed a system that got the FAA concerned because of a fire risk (flare system against infrared (heat) signature sensors). Another system is called C-Music.

Note too that the system that the Israelis have installed is largely to defend against MANPADs, not the system that appears to have brought down the Malaysian jet.