Given the potentially devastating impact on commercial aviation of even an unsuccessful Surface to Air Missile (SAM) attack on an airliner landing or taking off from a major US airport, it is understandable the authorities at LAX have quietly enhanced their security measures against this threat. LAX is particularly vulnerable because it is seen as a prestigious target by terrorists, who have already planned or attempted several other attacks against it. These security measures, which include improving perimeter security and stepping up patrols, are prudent and sensible precautions for this airport to take. Of course, there are skeptics who question the cost of these measures and ask if the cost can be justified given that aircraft can still be targeted from outside of the airport perimeter. However, these critics have entirely missed the point.

In the first instance, it is likely that terrorists will only be able to acquire older generation missiles that have a much shorter effective range and can only engage an aircraft at lower altitudes. More modern systems are much more difficult to acquire and operate. The operator of these older generation missiles, therefore, needs to be much closer to the target in order to engage and acquire the aircraft before it flies out of range. The terrorist will also want to be as close to the flight path as possible in order to reduce the distance to the target. Any sensible security measure that forces the terrorist as far away from the runway as possible is, therefore, clearly worth the time and expense.