A story about the
first commercial jet - a FedEx cargo plane - with an anti-missle system is making the rounds.
The FedEx flight marked the start of operational testing and evaluation of the laser system designed to defend against shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles during takeoffs and landings.
This seems a bit pointless, considering that there has never been a passenger plane shot down by a shoulder-fired missle outside of a combat zone. Ever. Luckily, these bad boys only cost about $1 million a wack. Peanuts, I say!
The report said testing showed that the systems can be installed on commercial aircraft without impairing safety; at least one company can supply 1,000 systems at a cost of $1 million each; and operation and maintenance will cost $365 per flight, above the $300-per-flight goal.
Given a very general aircraft service life of twenty years, figuring 50,000 hours and 75,000 pressurization cycles, that's a mere $20 to $30 million for a system that will almost undoubtably
never be used.
Why not install anti-cholesterol laser systems on fat people, instead? The margins on those should be astronomical.
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the guys: philogynist jaime tony - the gals:raymi raspil
