A major milestone was reached this week for the Air Forceís Airborne
Laser program when its primary optical mirror was delivered to Contraves
Brashear Systems, L.P., in Pittsburgh, Pa. This is the service's
high-priority program to build a laser-carrying aircraft capable of destroying
Scud-like missiles shortly after being launched.
Program officials note that reaching this milestone, the program is on
schedule toward a demonstration in 2003 when the revolutionary weapon system
will shoot down a theater ballistic missile.
The mirror, the first of two to be built by Corning Glass, N. Y., will
be used to focus the system's laser beam on to its intended target.
Contraves Brashear will take approximately a year to polish the mirror to
an optical quality required to direct the high-energy laser beam to a target
hundreds of kilometers away. This process will be followed by integration
and testing on the 747-400F freighter scheduled to roll-off Boeing's
assembly line in Seattle, Wash., at the end of this year.
The mirror, 62 inches in diameter and eight inches thick, will be mounted
in a turret ball on the front of the modified Boeing aircraft. The turret
can be turned to track and engage missiles at extended ranges. The aircraft
will house the system's high-energy laser and other beam control
elements.
"This event represents another successful milestone in the effort
to develop and demonstrate this revolutionary weapon system," said
Col. Mike Booen, director of the Airborne Laser System Program Office at
Kirtland AFB, N. M. "I am proud of the way Team ABL had been able
to adhere to the program plan we established more than two years ago."
Team ABL, comprised of Boeing, Lockheed-Martin and Northrop Grumman, is designing
the Airborne Laser to counter the increasing threat of theater ballistic
missiles to U. S. forces deployed overseas. The system, which provides a
speed-of-light response to missile attacks, will play a key role in the
nation's tiered, multi-service theater missile defense architecture.
Boeing is responsible for battle management, overall integration of the
ABL and attachment of the turret to the nose of the modified 747-400F aircraft.
The optics and control of the laser beam that fires through the turret's
window are the responsibility of Lockheed Martin. Northrop Grumman is designing and producing
the weapon system's powerful laser.
The program office is a unit of the Space and Missile Systems Center
at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.
