Vigilant Eagle The Vigilant Eagle Airport Protection System is a proposed directed - energy weapon under development by the U . S . military under a Defense Department contract with Raytheon . It would create an invisible microwave dome around an airport that could block missiles heading toward incoming and outgoing aircraft . Man - portable air - defense systems ( MANPADS ) are shoulder - launched surface - to - air missiles ( SAMs ) that present a tremendous threat to both civilian and military aircraft . It is estimated 700 , 000 MANPADs are built and sold across the world , thousands of which are unaccounted for and sold daily on the black market . The U . S . government says these type of attacks have been used in at least 36 times on civilian aircraft in the past three decades . A successful attack of this kind would cause more than loss of life . The estimated cost of a four - hour operational shut down of an airport is $ 40 million . This would have an estimated $ 10 billion impact on the U . S . economy and an estimated $ 300 billion impact globally . History . Raytheon ' s experimentation with directed energy weapons began when its research labs ' experiments had inadvertently produced the first microwave oven in 1958 . Under William Swanson , Raytheon ’ s chairman and CEO , the company has become even more focused on directed energy systems . He has stated " When I look at directed energy , it ' s clear that if someone is gonna put us out of business , it will be us . " Raytheon Missile Systems developed Vigilant Eagle under a U . S . Defense Department contract and has discussed with the Department of Homeland Security , the potential of using it at U . S . airports . In 2006 , a $ 4 . 1 million contract with the Department of Homeland Security was issued to assess the anti - missile system . Within the last three years , the company ' s researchers have shot down multiple types of shoulder - fired antiaircraft missiles at a distance of several miles with pulses of microwave energy . The company says that its prototype high - power microwave ( HPM ) weapon , with an energy focused to within 1 degree , sends an electrical pulse which penetrates through openings in the missile ’ s metal parts and reaches its computers and guidance system . This energy is powerful enough to damage electrical components and scramble computer memories causing the missile to fly off course . Raytheon has tested the system at an American airport , but both the company and the airport are unwilling to disclose which one because of a confidentiality agreement . Effects . The VE works by directing electromagnetic radiation ; specifically , a set of high - frequency microwaves toward any projectile fired at an aircraft that is either taking off or landing . For example , if someone were to launch a shoulder - fired projectile or missile from outside the airport during an aircraft ' s takeoff , the VE airfield would detect the missile ' s presence and would shoot a microwave beam to deflect it from the airfield . Vigilant Eagle consists of three major components : a missile detecting and tracking subsystem ( MDT ) , a command and control system , and a scanning array . The MDT is a fixed grid of passive infrared ( IR ) cameras . The command and control system determines where the launch of the projectile is taking place . Using the scanning array , it can interfere with the MANPADS ' guidance system and deflect it away from the aircraft . Advantages and disadvantages . The first large difference between the ground - based Vigilant Eagle and other aircraft protection systems is the lower cost between it and its rivals . Mike Booen , Raytheon ’ s chief of directed - energy programs estimates that the system can be built for about $ 25 million per airport if the system is deployed in at least twenty - five airports . Of all the airports located within the U . S . , the top 31 airports account for 70 percent of the country ’ s takeoffs and landings . " If Vigilant Eagle is installed in all of them , the expenditure would total less than $ 1 billion , compared with the $ 6 - $ 12 billion it would take to install protection systems on 6 , 000 aircraft " . Airline carriers have also stated concerns with airplane - mounted systems because of the weight and cost of these systems . The DHS has stated that the cost of each flight carrying the countermeasure would be approximately $ 350 ; however , during the airlines ’ best year ever , they only earned about $ 600 per flight . It is also unclear whether the airlines or the government would bear the cost of using these types of systems . The biggest challenges in implementing this new system is whether the private and public sectors can be convinced the new technology is worth the expensive price and difficult logistics . A government - accountability report from April 2009 cited several the problems facing the Defense Department ' s non - lethal weapons program . This report used another of Raytheon ' s non - lethal weapons systems , the Active Denial System , as an example . One of the problems discussed was that the systems ' components were " too complex " . Critics of the program have also stated that the diameter of protection provided by the system is inadequate to thwart all threats imposed by MANPADS . The University of Southern California reported in a study funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that “ the capability of MANPADS to reach targets at altitudes of up to or beyond 15 , 000 feet allow these weapons to be used at a radius of 50 miles or more from most airports , making perimeter facility control largely ineffective . ” Northrop Grumman has also estimated that " the zone of vulnerability around the airport is 300 square miles . " This would mean that the system would need to utilize a perimeter around the airport that is believed to be “ unrealistic . ”