Two 25-foot-long-by-5.5-foot-wide
titanium "belly skins" for the first flying platform of the Airborne Laser
(ABL) -- a 747-400 Freighter -- have been delivered to the Boeing modification
center in Wichita, Kan. This is the first large application of formed titanium
structure on a commercial derivative aircraft for the military.
The two complex contour panels, manufactured by AHF Ducommun, Gardena,
Calif., are to be fastened together to form the largest single, one-piece
titanium aircraft component in the world. The titanium belly skin is located
on the underside of the aircraft, at the mid-section under which the ABL
chemicals are situated.
Team ABL -- Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Air Force -- is
developing a high-energy, chemical-oxygen-iodine laser carried aboard a
747-400 Freighter platform capable of shooting down boost-phase theater
ballistic missiles while hundreds of miles from their launch site.
Titanium was chosen by Team ABL to meet the thermal, strength and chemical
compatibility requirements for the aircraft, currently undergoing an 18-month
modification effort in Wichita. Each panel contains 18 14.75-inch-diameter
ejector holes, which are designed to resist buckling, and will be used
for the laser exhaust system. Steam, a by-product of the laser,
will be ejected from the holes in the laser exhaust fairing, under the
belly skin. The steam then will immediately evaporate, causing no harmful
effects to the environment. All modifications will maintain the designed
structural capability of the modified aircraft.
Installation of the titanium skins onto the aircraft is scheduled for
the fourth quarter of 2000.
During the $1.4 billion Program Definition Risk Reduction (PDRR) contract
phase, Team ABL has been designing, developing, integrating and testing
the sophisticated design. The program has consistently been on-schedule
and on-budget since the PDRR contract was awarded in November. The effort
will culminate with the planned test destruction of Scud-type missiles
by the ABL in 2003, providing the U.S. and its allies with emergency defense
if needed against theater ballistic missiles.
The Air Force Airborne Laser System Program Office at Kirtland Air Force
Base, N.M., manages the ABL program; Col. Ellen Pawlikowski is executive
director of the effort.
Titanium "belly skins" photo
CONTACT: Bob Smith - Boeing (253) 773-0983
