page_title: FedEx Express
section_title: Northrop Grumman Guardian
hierarchical_section_title: FedEx Express / Northrop Grumman Guardian
caption_attribution_description: FedEx MD-11 N525FE during flight test of the Northrop Grumman Guardian counter-MANPADS system, at Mojave.
context_page_description: FedEx Express, formerly Federal Express, is a cargo airline based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. In 2017, it was the world's largest airline in terms of freight tons flown and the world's ninth largest in terms of fleet size. It is the namesake and leading subsidiary of FedEx Corporation, delivering freight and packages to more than 375 destinations across all six continents each day.
  Its headquarters are in Memphis with its global "SuperHub" located at Memphis International Airport. In the United States, FedEx Express has a national hub at Indianapolis International Airport. Regional hubs are located at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Oakland International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, Fort Worth Alliance Airport, Piedmont Triad International Airport, and Miami International Airport. International regional hubs are located at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, Kansai International Airport, Toronto Pearson International Airport, Cologne Bonn Airport and Liège Airport. There are a total of 12 air hubs in the company's worldwide network. The company slogan is The World On Time.
context_section_description: In 2003 FedEx Express partnered with the Department of Homeland Security and Northrop Grumman to develop and flight test an anti-missile system, the Northrop Grumman Guardian. It is intended that this system could be deployed on commercial airliners to protect them from terrorist attacks such as the 2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident. FedEx supplied an MD-11 and a leased 747 for the flight test phase.
  FedEx Express became the first air carrier to deploy the Guardian on a commercial flight in September, 2006, when it equipped an MD-10 freighter with the pod. By December 2007, the company had nine aircraft equipped with the system for further testing and evaluation. Because of the program's success, the U.S. Congress directed DHS to extend it to passenger-carrying aircraft.
caption: A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 during a test flight of the Guardian, which can be seen mounted to the belly aft of the wings.
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