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Homeland Security's technology research and development arm is looking into three different sophisticated -- and expensive -- technological solutions that can counter a shoulder-launched missile attack against commercial airplanes, spurred on, despite the high cost, by the increasingly sophisticated nature of such attacks in Iraq.

DHS recently announced that three American Airlines planes would be outfitted with Pentagon-developed onboard sensors and high-powered laser countermeasures to figure out how much maintenance the units will need under regular use, according to James Tuttle, the director of Homeland Security's Science and Technology research division. That test happened through a $29 million grant and a partnership with BAE Systems.

Shoulder-launched missiles, known as MANPADs in military parlance, have been fired overseas against commercial flights, but never domestically. A DHL plane was successfully struck in Iraq in 2003 by such a missile, but it did not destroy the plane since it hit a wing-mounted engine. The government estimates some 5,000 MANPADs are loose in the world, some of which were provided by the U.S. to Afghanis fighting the Russians who invaded.

Tuttle spoke about his division's efforts at the DHS S&T Stakeholders Conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

DHS tested the system in Nevada, where testers shot 50 different missiles at the plane and the military-developed system proved it was capable, according to Tuttle.

"The issue is how much it would cost to maintain the system if we put it on all 600 widebody aircraft in the United States," Tuttle said.

While Congress is bulllish on the systems, the airlines aren't convinced the system is necessary or that it will be cost efficient. DHS's own initial risk assessment also concluded that the costs outweighed the risks, but began exploring solutions further after being told to do so by Congress.

That deployment would cost some $600 million up front, but the maintenance costs and lifecycle of the units are unknown, which will be a key factor in Congress's ultimate decision to fund or postpone the technology's deployment to civilian aircraft.

DHS is also looking into two other possibilities -- one a plane flying at 50,000 feet -- above FAA-controlled airspace -- that could detect a shoulder-fired missile and disable it from above with a high-powered laser blast. But that approach runs into problems with cloud cover. Additionally, that system would be firing at the homing eye of the missile at an steep angle, rather than straight-on like the plane based system, making the targeting harder and requiring a more high-powered blast, according to Tuttle.

DHS tested a prototype-plane with detection technology at the same time it tested the plane-based system. Using NASA's version of the high-flying U2 spy plane, DHS found that the system worked well at detecting threats, and Tuttle said the planes fly high enough that one plane could cover multiple airports that are geographically close -- such as Baltimore's airport and D.C.'s Ronald Reagan and Dulles airports.

The third possibility involves using a ground-based system. That solution, however, runs into problems about space at airports and what the strength of its laser's blast will have on passengers' cell phones and pacemakers, as well as the plane's electronics, Tuttle told THREAT LEVEL.

One other trouble with airplane-based deployments is what do about foreigners, Tuttle said. What should be the requirements for foreign planes or U.S. planes flying internationally, given this is considered critical and sensitive technology that the U.S. would not want in the hands of foreign governments.

Tuttle says that Congress, not DHS, will make final decisions.

"We are developing technology," Tuttle said. "That is all we can do."

(Note to long-time readers, his name is Tuttle, not Buttle.)