Protecting Civilian Flights from Missiles

Summary

This report briefly outlines the history of incidents involving civilian flights being hit by shoulder fired missiles and discusses the Directed Infrared Countermeasure (DIRCM) systems, which were developed to be mounted on commercial airliners for defense against infrared guided missiles and were never widely implemented. The report discusses the limitations of DIRCM systems, especially in the context of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which would not have been saved by such a system due to having been brought down by a radar-guided missile. The report also examines alternative ways to protect commercial airliners from missile attacks, such as flight techniques and ground-based systems.