I'm not sure how they're "testing" them, though I assume it's not by firing missiles at the planes....

How else did u think airlines can afford cheap tickets?;).Those are for these 'testing' flights!

Sidewinder Missiles? Machine guns? I always thought it would be fun to fly on a fighter plane! :)

Seriously though, if airlines are in the process of finding ways to save fuel (decals instead of pant, no on-flight movie systems) why would they want to add weight to their planes? I know it's because of potential attacks on our planes, but has that been a real problem? I'm more worried that the plane didn't pass it's last inspection long before I even think of getting shot out of the sky.

Actually - yes... it happened in November of 2002 - and Hillary (in all her infinite wisdom) "sent letters to Tom Ridge, secretary-designate of the Department of Homeland Security, and George Pataki, governor of New York, asking them to take steps to prevent such an attack from succeeding inside the United States or at any of the country's 429 commercial airports." - and so now we do...

Testing on national flights? Give me a break. How many missile attacks have we had on our commercial airlines? This is just another example of fear in action. Let's give everyone an anal probe and wrap them in bubble tape to keep them safe from terrorists. Looks like the Republican fear campaign has claimed another victory. Put those systems on our military planes, not our commercial ones.

Seriously, how many people have been killed on a commercial flight by a domestic should-fired missile in the USA? ZERO.

Even if this has happened multiple times, do you have any idea how many people routinely die each week from car accidents, falls in the home, preventable diseases, etc.

The "risk/dollar" ratio is WAY too low on this one. For god sakes, how about spending the HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS on this ridiculous concept on providing clean water cheap medicines to the 20,000 CHILDREN WHO DIE IN THE WORLD EACH DAY FROM MALNUTRITION AND PREVENTABLE DISEASE!

This would provide a really good reason for people to NOT aim lasers into the cockpit. :-)

If the airlines are all filing bankruptcy, how in the world can they afford to pay a million dollars a plane for something that will never be used?

Also, by equipping our planes with anti-fighter equipment we are only begging someone to take a shot at us.

How 'bout we leave the dog fighting for the F16s and just focus on getting those ticket prices down?

So what, a rocket attack- 300 people die. Big f-ing deal. I'll take my chances as long as it means a cheap ticket.