Imagine in the near future a defensive system that uses airborne laser beams traveling at the speed of light to 'zap' enemy missiles early in their boost stage. Well, Buck Rogers is moving from science fiction lore to the factory floor with today's opening of a facility to integrate and test a key element of the Airborne Laser system.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held this morning to mark the start of operations at the 16,000-square-foot Beam Control/Fire Control Integration and Test Facility at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale. Lockheed Martin is building the Beam Control/Fire Control system for Team Airborne Laser (ABL), which includes the Air Force, team leader Boeing, Northrop Grumman and a host of companies in the Bay Area.

"The Airborne Laser is for real, and we are proceeding toward a shoot-down demonstration planned for late 2003," said Air Force Col. Ellen Pawlikowski, ABL System Program Director, among those dignitaries present for today's event. "This is a critical milestone for a system that offers a realistic and affordable near-term defensive solution to protect civilians and military assets from attack by theater ballistic missiles."

Anthony G. Tuffo, president of Lockheed Martin Space Systems' operations in Sunnyvale, hosted the officials here for the event. "We are proud to be part of this impressive government-industry team on such an important defense initiative," he said. "The Beam Control/Fire Control program builds on our legacy of delivering leading-edge electro-optical systems ranging from those used on the Hubble Space Telescope to remote sensing satellites for government and commercial customers."

According to Paul Shattuck, Lockheed Martin's program manager, the Beam Control/Fire Control system is one of the central elements of the Airborne Laser weapon as it actually steers the laser into the target. "The Beam/Control Fire Control system, housed in the nose of a modified Boeing 747, will autonomously detect, track and destroy hostile theater ballistic missiles," he said. "We're investing in a major new facility that will allow the team to test the sophisticated suite of optical benches, sensors, mirrors and lasers, which include items such as a low-light sensor that can see a dollar bill in a pitch-black room."

Partnerships throughout the Silicon Valley and surrounding Bay Area abound on this program. The low-light sensor, called the Electron-Bombarded Charge Coupled Device or EBCCD for short, is being produced by another Silicon Valley company -- Intevac in Santa Clara. The optical benches and rotating nose turret are state-of-the-art lightweight composite structure. Manufacturing and assembly of these precision structures required teaming between the Lockheed Martin Composite Center in Sunnyvale and Applied Aerospace Structures (AASC) in Stockton. Total investment in the new Sunnyvale facility is $8 million, and about 135 are employed on the program at Lockheed Martin. The Lockheed Martin portion of the $1.6 billion development program is $325 million.

The Beam Control/Fire Control Integration and Test Facility will include a high bay, Class 10,000 optics clean room, control room with closed circuit television system, mezzanine office space, hydraulic units and the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning system. The facility has the capability of emulating the 747 aircraft by providing the identical electrical and hydraulic power, and environmental controls to the Beam Control/Fire Control flight equipment. Overhead trays replicate the routing of the flight cables in the aircraft. The relative geometric positions of the turret, optical benches, and electrical racks are also preserved in this facility. A range simulator, also being developed on the ABL program, will allow for complete end-to-end testing of the Beam Control/Fire Control system against a simulated target.

ABL Team leader Boeing has overall program management and system integration responsibilities. Boeing is also developing the ABL battle management system and modifying the 747-400 aircraft. Those efforts are being conducted at Boeing facilities in Seattle, Wash., and Wichita, Kan. Northrop Grumman, Redondo Beach, Calif., is building the Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser and the related ground support subsystem.

The high-energy laser is designed to shoot down theater ballistic missiles within hundreds of miles from their launch site. ABL will locate and track missiles in the boost phase of their flight above the clouds, then accurately point and fire the laser with such energy that the missiles will be destroyed near their launch areas and may fall onto the adversary's territory. ABL system component installation aboard the modified 747 is expected to start in Wichita and at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. in July, with first flight in early 2002.

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