Wired reports that the Pentagon is asking for submissions on a “non-lethal” method to stop a plane on the ground or divert it from a particular location. This does not sound like a good idea to me.
The one constant and predictable thing with any tachnology is that it will break. Having an extra piece of technology on a plane that can break is a bad idea. It is even worse when that technology is designed to turn off the plane or fly it towards the nearest snow covered alp.
There seems to be a small benefit for the cost to this as well. Is this going to prevent future hijackings any more effectively than the secure cockpit cabins that we now have on all planes? This seems more likely to be a market protection ploy. Airlines are forced to install expensive thecnology that gives the US government the ability to take control of their planes in order to fly into the US. Those that don’t are banned from the US market.