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A reporter tries to leave the back door of a bus equipped with the bomber-prevention system. (AP)
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| By israelinsider staff January 23, 2004 |
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A system to prevent suicide bombers from boarding buses will be installed in the coming weeks on a pilot basis. If the test is successful, the system will be deployed nationwide.
Developed by Israeli Military Industries in cooperation with the Transportation Ministry, the system enables the driver to physically block a would-be bomber from entering the bus by pressing a button which closes a turnstile.
In addition, a different kind of barrier is to be installed at the rear entrance, used by bombers to sneak on buses without the driver knowing. It resembles the tentacles of an octopus, which nearly come almost together when not in use. They swing outward when a passenger leaves. Anyone trying to get on would have the difficult if not impossible task of opening all the arms at once.
A sheet of armor is to be mounted at the front of the bus just below the window to block shrapnel, and in front of the driver, should a frustrated bomber decide to detonate right outside the vehicle.
The system remains dependent on the driver's judgment and ability to discern concealed explosives and disguises. Palestinian bombers have disguised themselves as women, as soldiers, and as Orthodox Jews to avoid detection.
Successful but limited implementation
As a blue-and-white Man bus, equipped with the system, opens its front door, a turnstile automatically moves forward and its metal bar prevents people from getting on the bus.
The driver scans the would-be passengers outside and then presses a button. A red light turned green and one person steps on before the turnstile locks again.
In the future, it is expected that the system will incorporate electronic explosives sensors that will trigger an alarm and shut the door automatically.
However, scientists are still completing the development of sensors to be placed around the door to check passengers for hidden explosives and alert the driver. The sensors are expected to be ready within weeks, Arieh Mizrachi, chairman of Israel Military Industries, told UPI.
The bus driver and the passengers would sit behind shields and should be protected if the attacker detonated the charge.
"The system is designed prevent suicide bombers from setting foot on a bus," project director Haim Shafir told reporters. If the bomber is bent on detonating his charge, he or she would be forced to do it outside, where the blast would be less deadly.
In principle, the system is applicable to entrances to other types of public buildings.
Thirteen times over the past three years of violence, Palestinians bombers boarded buses and detonated themselves, killing 139 passengers. While suicide attacks account for just one-half percent of all attacks, they account for 55 percent of all Israeli casualties.
"Public transportation has been a preferred target of terrorists," said Transportation Minister Avigdor Lieberman. "Now we have developed the technology to confront this problem."
Lieberman said the pilot project will have five buses equipped with the system on the streets within three weeks. The government wants the system installed on most Israeli buses.
There are an estimated 8,000 buses in Israel and the plan calls for retrofitting 200 per month. Retrofitting each bus will cost as much as $30,000, or $200 million for all Israeli buses.
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