HAMPSHIRE aerospace group BAE Systems has won a contract from the US government to develop a system to protect passenger jets from shoulder-fired missile attacks by terrorists.

The US Department of Homeland Security said it had chosen BAE, US defence group Northrop Grumman and United Airlines to adapt military missile detection and counter-measure equipment for civil aircraft.

They will develop a plan and test prototypes to determine whether technology exists to protect jets from attacks.

A ground missile attack is thought to pose one of the most serious threats to passenger aircraft.

In November 2002, terrorists nearly hit an Israeli plane full of tourists as it took off from the resort town of Mombassa in Kenya.

Last November a cargo aircraft made an emergency landing in Iraq after being hit by a surface-to-air missile.

BAE and its partners will each receive about £1.1m for the first phase of the project, which will last six months.

BAE employs thousands of people in Hampshire, including 250 people at Millbrook in Southampton, and has its headquarters at Farnborough.

Washington said the work is part of a wider programme against the threat from shoulder-fired missiles, including completion of security assessments and implementation of response measures at US airports.

The US is also working with other countries to reduce the number of such weapons potentially available to terrorists, the Department of Homeland Security said.

Dr Charles McQueary, the US under-secretary of science and technology, said: "The President and the Secretary (of Homeland Security) are taking a very aggressive approach on measures to counter the potential threat of shoulder-fired missiles."

BAE, Northrop and United beat competition from 21 other candidates who bid for the work last October.