The 747-400F aircraft, which costs approximately $150 million, is being purchased from the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group in Seattle, Wash., for the Airborne Laser program. It will become part of a fleet of laser-carrying aircraft that can destroy enemy theater ballistic missiles shortly after being launched.

According to Col. Mike Booen, director of the Airborne Laser Program Office, "This is a significant business milestone. Until now, the Defense Department has only been able to make payments based on invoices submitted by a Defense contractor. But the Airborne Laser program, in addition to developing a revolutionary weapon system, has been charged to look at ways that will improve Defense procurement practices."

Airborne Laser program officials, with assistance from the Defense Contract Management Command and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, established a process that allows payments for the commercial aircraft to be made along a pre-established payment schedule on the dates due without any additional paperwork.

Col. Booen emphasized that future programs involving commercial items will benefit from this pilot program.

According to Paul Shennum, Boeing vice president and Airborne Laser program manager, "ABL has embraced acquisition streamlining in a number of model ways. Using this commercial process of electronic payment is faster and provides a significant savings to the government by reducing the lengthy process from months to days and eliminating paperwork."

The program is managed at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., by the Airborne Laser System Program Office, a unit of the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.

Key contractors involved in the program are Boeing Defense Group of Seattle, Wash., Northrop Grumman Space and Electronics Group of Redondo Beach, Calif., and Lockheed-Martin Missiles & Space of Sunnyvale, Calif.

The first aircraft is slated for delivery in 1999.