ACHIEVING MISSION ASSURANCE - Raytheon

Vigilant Eagle
Designed to Protect
the Flying Public
Raytheon is involved with the U.S.
Department of Defense in the development
of an airfield defense system based on highpowered
microwaves (HPMs). Recently this
concept has been refined for civilian application
so it can be made available to the
Department of Homeland Security and
other entities for further development and
application as part of a layered defense for
the civilian surface-to-air missile problem.
The Vigilant Eagle airport protection system
would illuminate the missile body with
electromagnetic energy, disrupting missile
guidance. The electromagnetic beam is precisely
steered and lasts for only a few seconds.
It would be well within OSHA standards
for personnel exposure limits and
pose no danger to civilians in the airport
and vicinity. The HPM beam would also not
interfere with the operation of aircraft or
other devices.
Three-Part System
onTechnology
The Vigilant Eagle concept consists of three
major components: a distributed missile
warning system (MWS), a control center
located in close proximity to air traffic control
and the HPM transmitter, which consists
of a billboard-sized array of highly-efficient
patch antennas linked to solid state cell
phone amplifiers.
The MWS is composed of a pre-positioned
grid of passive infrared sensors, with communication
lines to the control center on
airport property. These sensors are mounted
to cell phone towers or buildings in a manner
that most efficiently covers the required
detection space. And because each missile
detection is confirmed by at least two sensors
in an overlapping grid, it produces an
extremely low false alarm rate.
In addition to providing pointing commands
to the HPM transmitter, the control center
connects to the airport security interface.
Vigilant Eagle determines the launch point
of the missile and can notify security forces,
Vigilant Eagle
significantly lowers
the risk of a
successful terrorist attack
without delivering a
financial blow to the
airline industry.
enabling the capture of the terrorist. Upon
receiving pointing commands from the
control center, the HPM transmitter radiates
energy to interfere with the missiles guidance
and deflect it away from the aircraft.
R F S Y S T E M S
Cost-Effective Solution
The Vigilant Eagle concept is a highly costeffective
addition to a layered protection
approach when combined with a limited
number of commercial and general aviation
on-board protection systems. If Vigilant
Eagle is installed at the 21 Category One
(most critical) airports as designated by the
Transportation Security Administration
(TSA), nearly 50 percent of all takeoffs and
landings within the U.S. and more than
85 percent of overseas arrivals and departures
will be covered by this technology.
When compared to on-aircraft protection,
Vigilant Eagle is six times more cost effective
to procure and 50 times more cost
effective for operations and maintenance
due to the significant logistics tail required
for on-board systems. What’s more, Vigilant
Eagle requires no aircraft modifications.
Put simply, Vigilant Eagle significantly
lowers the risk of a successful terrorist
attack without delivering a financial
blow to the airline industry.
Jeff Vollin
jlvollin@raytheon.com
24 2006 ISSUE 1 RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGY TODAY YESTERDAY…TODAY…TOMORROW