SAFEE - Security of Aircraft in the Future European Environment
Overview
Background & policy context:
Despite the completion of airport control and security measures, there is still the possibility that hostile persons may manage to pass through these and access an aircraft, and even initiate hostile actions. There is therefore a need to secure the aircraft itself as the last barrier to attacks.
SAFEE was a large integrated project (IP) designed to restore full confidence in the security of the air transport industry. The overall vision for SAFEE was the construction of advanced aircraft security systems designed to prevent onboard threats. The main goal of these systems is to ensure a fully secure flight from departure to arrival destination whatever the identified threats are.
Objectives:
The project focused on the implementation of onboard threat detection systems and the provision of reliable threat information to the flight crew.
In the decision-making and response management process, secured air/ground exchange of threat level information was foreseen. SAFEE also anticipated the future use of the European Regional Renegade Information Dissemination System (ERRIDS) by all organisations involved in response to acts of unlawful interference on-board aircraft.
One of the short term goals of SAFEE was to influence security bodies at national level, at European and worldwide levels.
Methodology:
To reach these objectives SAFEE had five key activities (Sub-Projects):
- Onboard Threat Detection System (OTDS): an integrated threat detection system based on processing of multiple sensor information is being specified, prototyped and evaluated;
- Threat Assessment and Response Management System (TARMS): an integrated information management system and decision support tool;
- Flight reconfiguration: includes an Emergency Avoidance System (EAS) and a study of an automatic guidance system to control the aircraft for a safe return;
- Data Protection System (DPS) securing all the data exchanges (in and out of the aircraft);
- Security evaluation activities, including legal and regulatory issues threat assessment, operational concept development, validation approach, economic analysis, and training.
The proponents are major European industrial actors of the Aeronautical sector associated with a high level research centre, several relevant SMEs and some specialised universities. A certain degree of confidentiality on proposed sensors and technologies will, for obvious reasons, be imposed on the results obtained.
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