FedEx Asks Permission to Install Anti-Missile Lasers on Its Cargo Jet:
FedEx has asked the US Federal Aviation Administration if it could install anti-missile lasers on cargo jets, according to a request filed earlier this month. The FAA request is set to be published on the public register next week.
Heat-seeking missiles detect and target heat from cargo jet engines, and because these planes are less maneuverable that a fighter jet, they're hard to shake off. Gizmodo reports that anti-missile lasers act like a distraction, shining an infrared laser directly at the missile to disrupt its ability to track a heat signature.
Although it may seem out of left field, supply chain issues have been causing food and product shortages since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Last year, hackers even deployed ransomware attacks on a major agricultural services provider. With those cyberpunk logistics challenges in mind, FedEx's application makes a little more sense.
"In recent years, in several incidents abroad, civilian aircraft were fired upon by man-portable air defense systems," the application letter reads.
[...] When FedEx first tested similar equipment back in 2008, CBS reported the lasers were eye-safe. In addition, Gizmodo reports that the current application includes new features, reporting and important safety information for airline crew. The lasers really shouldn't pose a problem to civilians on the ground, then, and it makes us wonder — should all passenger planes have this tech?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 19 2022, @07:25AM (3 children)
"throw darts at a map of Europe"
Azuma Hazuki is a Finnish name? I always assumed you were Japanese.
(Score: 1) by didymus on Wednesday January 19 2022, @10:17AM (1 child)
Would it be too much to ask, that comments stay on topic? Everyone's respective ancestry is very interesting (not), but I seem to remember that this is how the movie "Castaway", starring Tom Hanks and Wilson, began.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 19 2022, @02:55PM
Ancestry gets rather complicated, in large part because most modern nations didn't exist a few hundred years ago, leading to new ethnicities that don't match up very well with genetics. On top of that, there was a fair amount of movement within the various continents due to pressure from famine, drought or war. On top of that, there's also which cultural beliefs a given family chose to prioritize over the others. Most of my ancestry comes from Scandinavia, but virtually all the non-American cultural values I have come from Germany. Which isn't quite right, as only one of my ancestors was living in the area that's now Germany after it became a nation.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday January 19 2022, @05:31PM
...right, because this is my real name. Definitely. Absolutely. Has nothing at all to do with a story that resonated with me back in high school my first serious girlfriend showed me. Noooope.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...