Public security

Yesterday's Washington D.C. Air Alert Revealed a Secret Missile Battery

Washington’s skies are heavily regulated, the result of the 9/11 attacks in order to protect the White House, Capitol building, and other government locations. North American Air Defense Command, or NORAD, sent a Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter to investigate. The helicopter, call sign “Blackjack,” did not notice anything unusual but note it nearly ran into a flock of birds at 1,300 feet.
The alert lasted 45 minutes. During that time a CBS News reporter, Sara Cook, noticed something unusual on a building across the street from the White House: a missile launcher.

The launcher is an Avenger air defense missile system. Avenger consists of eight Stinger missiles and a M3 .50 caliber machine gun, and was originally designed to protect U.S. Army forces from low-level air attack. Avenger is typically mounted on a Humvee, but the Washington system appears to be mounted on a pedestal on top of the building.

Stinger is a short range system with a relatively small explosive warhead, so it is ideally suited for shooting down hostile small aircraft, drones, and other threats in and around the White House. Stinger missiles are infrared-guided and have a range of approximately two miles.