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posted by martyb on Tuesday January 18 2022, @11:59PM   Printer-friendly
from the Pew!-Pew!-Pew! dept.

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?


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 19 2022, @02:55PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 19 2022, @02:55PM (#1213848)

    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.