Washington, Nov 13 (ANI): Israel is reportedly accelerating plans to put an anti-missile laser system on its passenger planes amid fears missing Libyan rockets may have fallen into the hands of Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.
According to ABC News, an Israeli defense official said that all Israeli commercial airplanes would be outfitted with a laser-based system meant to 'blind' heat-seeking missiles 'within months,' about a year ahead of schedule.
The system has been in development since 2002, but according to Israeli defense, its implementation was put on the fast track after reports emerged that thousands of heat-seeking, shoulder-fired missiles were left unguarded in Libyan weapons depots and subsequently looted during the chaos of the revolution.
Last month Egyptian authorities told The Washington Post they had intercepted some missiles in smuggling tunnels between the Sinai Peninsula and the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
According to the report, over 40 civilian planes around the world have been hit by surface-to-air missiles since the 1970s.
In 2003, Iraqi insurgents hit a DHL cargo plane with a missile in Baghdad. Though on fire, the plane was able to land safely.
Four years later, militants knocked a Russian-built cargo plane out of the sky over Somalia, killing all 11 crew members. (ANI)
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