The American private aircraft maintenance and licensing company Citadel and Israeli Elbit Systems announce a collaboration to market Elbit's airborne laser systems to AHM owners in the United States. Sky "). The announcement was made during the NBAA Civil Aviation Exhibition currently taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Elbit Systems has developed the "Music" flying laser system following the Israeli government's desire to protect the fleets of three Israeli commercial airlines (El Al, Arkia and Israir) from shoulder-fired missiles, amid an increase in the threat to aircraft against a threat illustrated in a flight attack 582 of Arkia from Mombasa in 2002.
The system detects the launch of the missile and fires a laser beam that hits the missile's domesticated head and disrupts its flight. Elbit completed the development of the "Music" laser system in 2014. The development was done in collaboration with the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Transportation in order to adapt to civilian aircraft operating in civilian space.
The "Music" laser system has undergone live fire trials and has received approval from civil aviation authorities to install on a variety of passenger and AH aircraft types.