An American Airlines Boeing 777 jetliner lands at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in this April, 2003 file photo. (Chris Kilroy/View Full Size)

The Department of Homeland Security said its science and technology division was in the first phase of a two-step process to work on adapting existing military technology for use on commercial planes and to establish a prototype of that anti-missile system.

In a "pre-solicitation notice" issued this week the division outlined its strategy for air protection and said it would hold a briefing for the industry the week of Oct. 6 to discuss plans to outfit the commercial fleet with anti-missile systems. It will then set a date to accept contract bids.

"The contract will give us an opportunity to determine if in fact a viable and cost effective technology exists that could be deployed on commercial aircraft," said Homeland Security spokesman Brian Roehrkasse.

The $100 million research and development phase for the anti-missile system was expected to take about a year and a half and start by late autumn, officials said.

The first phase of the project includes analysis of the economic, manufacturing and maintenance issues needed to support a system that will be effective on commercial planes.

In the second phase, the companies will develop a prototype.

Industry officials have noted that there are vast differences between military aircraft and commercial planes. Some have pointed to the superior maneuverability of military jets versus commercial planes as a critical difference.

Others say concerns also center on the daily pounding passenger jets take and how that would impact sensitive missile-defense technology.

Government and other estimates for equipping the U.S. commercial airliner fleet vary from $10 billion to nearly $100 billion, depending on the technology used.