El Al Israel
Airlines has installed anti-missiles systems on
its passenger aircraft, completing an overhaul
launched after a 2002 attempt to shoot down a
plane, security sources said on Wednesday.
They said the "Flight Guard", an Israeli-made
system costing around $1 million per unit, was
operational on the entire El Al fleet. It was
not immediately clear if this applied to five
planes leased by El Al as well as its own 29
aircraft.
El Al, Israel's national carrier and largest
airline, declined to comment, saying it did not
discuss security issues.
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Israel
stepped up efforts to adapt military
anti-missile
systems for its civilian aircraft after an
Israeli charter jet came under attack from
shoulder-held missiles in Kenya in 2002.
The missiles, fired by attackers linked to al-Qaida,
missed.
Flight Guard was developed by state-owned Israel
Military
Industries and the Elta defense firm - a unit of
state owned Israel Aircraft Industries. El Al
began installing the system in its planes in
2004.
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