FedEx is seeking permission to add an anti-missile system to cargo aircraft

(CNN) – FedEx wants to operate laser-equipped cargo aircraft capable of launching incoming heat-seeking missiles, according to newly released federal documents.

In a presentation this Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA, for short) stated that it was seeking permission to add the FedEx anti-missile defense system.

Agency “System of Protecting The FedEx missile defense system transmits infrared laser energy to the incoming missile, which seeks to disrupt the missile’s heat of the aircraft, “the document said Friday. By the Federal Aviation Administration.

There are reasons to worry. In 2003, an air missile collided with the left wing of an Airbus A330 operated for DHL shortly after take-off from Baghdad. The crew returned to the airport unharmed.

“In recent years, Man-Portable Air Defense (MANPADS) have fired on civilian aircraft in a number of incidents abroad,” the FAA document said. “This led many companies to design and modify systems such as laser-based missile defense systems to be installed on civil aircraft, protecting those aircraft against heat-seeking missiles.”

Air traffic controllers will now have 45 days to consult the public before approving the Airbus A321-200 aircraft “a system that emits infrared laser energy outside the aircraft as a countermeasure against heat-seeking missiles”.

The FAA document states that FedEx began the government approval process to modify the A321-200 in 2019, although the company does not yet own that type of aircraft. FedEx did not respond to a request for comment from CNN.