Program Milestones 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 |1996 | 1995 | 1994 | 1992 Future Program Milestones 2005 Post-shoot down testing 2004 Demonstrate ABL capability in ballistic missile shoot down 2002-2003 Integrate laser system at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. 2002 2002 Test and fly modified aircraft in Wichita Completed Program Milestones May 2002 ABL aircraft modification work completed in Wichita. News Release March 2002 Team ABL completes testing of high-power laser. News Release February 2002 Surrogate nose turret attached to ABL aircraft. News Release December 2001 Testing of Laser Module 1 under way in Capistrano, Calif. September 2001 Lockheed Martin delivers surrogate turret to Boeing for installation on aircraft. Turret is installed on ABL flying platform in Wichita on Oct. 22. July 2001 Team Airborne Laser delivers infrared sensors for lab testing and aircraft integration. The revolutionary Airborne Laser (ABL) missile defense system's infrared sensors - designed to be the system's initial detector of a theater ballistic missile in its boost phase - have been delivered for installation on the first ABL 747-400 Freighter aircraft platform. News Release March 2001 New solid-state laser developed for Airborne Laser program. Raytheon, a key subcontractor to team member Lockheed Martin, conducts a "first light" test of the Track Illuminator Laser (TILL) one week ahead of schedule at its High Energy Laser Center in El Segundo, Calif. The TILL, one of four critical lasers to the Airborne Laser Program, is the first solid-state laser to achieve this milestone. News Release February 2001 New Silicon Valley facility will test defensive system designed to 'zap' theater ballistic missiles at speed of light. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is held 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. News Release September 2000 747-400 Freighter modifications pass halfway point. The biggest military modification program ever at Boeing facilities in Wichita, Kan., has passed the halfway mark and progress continues on schedule. News Release August 2000 New titanium belly skins delivered to aircraft. Two large "belly skins' for the first flying ABL platform are delivered to the Boeing Maintenance and Modification Center in Wichita. This is the first large application of formed titanium structure on a commercial derivative aircraft for the military. The two complex contour panels form the largest single, one-piece titanium aircraft component in the work. The titanium belly skin is located on the underside of the aircraft, at the mid-section under which the ABL chemicals are situated. News Release June 2000 Team ABL continues making progress with delivery of two Airborne Laser steering mirrors. A team of engineers has delivered two prototype, fast-steering mirrors for the Airborne Laser (ABL) theater-ballistic-missile defense system to Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale, Calif. News Release April 2000 Airborne Laser program team members to 'celebrate' Critical Design Review this week. Three and one-half years following the start of design work on a revolutionary airborne theater ballistic-missile defense system, Team ABL successfully completes final critical review of its robust design for the Airborne Laser system. News Release April 2000 Team ABL begins fabrication of Airborne Laser turret. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, a member of Team Airborne Laser (ABL), has begun fabrication of the revolutionary, high-energy laser weapon system's turret assembly at its Sunnyvale, Calif., facility. News Release January 2000 First Airborne Laser aircraft arrives at Boeing Wichita for start of major modification work. The first Airborne Laser (ABL) flying platform - a 747-400 Freighter - fly into Boeing facilities in Wichita, Kan., and immediately begin 20 months of major modification work by Team ABL. News Release April 1999 First delivery of flight hardware for ABL beam control /fire control system. Corning Glass delivers the primary optical mirror for the ABL beam control/fire control system to Contraves Breshears Systems, L.P, a key contractor supporting Team ABL. The mirror, which is used to focus ABL's high-energy laser beam on its target, will be polished to the optical quality required to meet ABL mission requirements. News Release February 1999 Team ABL validates advanced processing architecture. Lockheed Martin demonstrates that high-speed commercial computers can provide the performance required to manage information that will control critical functions of the weapon system's beam control/fire control segment. February 1999 Team ABL confirms design of ABL with wind tunnel testing Boeing successfully tests and validates the design of the modified 747-400F freighter aircraft through a series of high and low-speed wind tunnel tests. News Release December 1998 Airborne Laser Program wins 100-percent award fee Team ABL receives an award fee ($6.1 million) amounting to 100 percent of the available funds for achievements on the ABL program from April 1 through Sept 30, 1998. News Release November 1998 Airborne Laser named in Popular Science "Best of What's New" The ABL program was one of 100 products and technologies selected for the magazine's annual "Best of What's New" listing. The magazine cited Team ABL for proving the viability of ABL during tests in 1998. News Release September 1998 Team ABL achieves 110-percent of design output power specification for first ABL laser module The Northrop Grumman-designed flight-weighted laser module (FLM), a prototype "building block" for the ABL system's 747-400F-mounted high-energy laser, produced 110 percent of its design output power, which exceeded by a significant margin the power requirements of the ABL mission. News Release June 1998 Team ABL achieves "first light" with flight-weighted laser module (FLM) Team ABL makes history by operating, for the first time, a high-energy laser module produced for the Airborne Laser (ABL) program. News Release June 1998 First ABL Flight Hardware in Production The first major step in the production of a turret window for the Airborne Laser program is completed when members of Team ABL accepted delivery of the largest piece of optical quality glass ever manufactured. May 1998 Team ABL passes preliminary design review Team ABL was cleared by the U.S. Air Force to proceed with work on the YAL-1A Airborne Laser following completion of the week-long preliminary design review. The PDR is the first of several design milestones before the ABL attempts to shoot down a ballistic missile in 2003. April 1998 Laser beam scaled demonstrator produces performance needed for Airborne Laser Lockheed Martin used a scaled laser beam control demonstrator to prove that the ABL beam control system will be able to accurately point and focus a laser at a hostile missile hundreds of miles away despite aircraft platform jitter, atmospheric turbulence, and fast engagement timelines. News Release January 1998 Boeing completes key wind tunnel tests Those tests confirm the design of two components critical to the program: the nose turret that aims the laser, and the laser exhaust system. News Release January 1998 Air Force places order for the first 747 aircraft for the ABL program The aircraft will be modified and used for the first missile shoot-down in 2002. News Release September 1997 Team ABL demonstrates that the laser's most critical component can meet its ABL mission requirement Team ABL has demonstrated that the laser's most critical component, the singlet oxygen generator (SOG), can meet its ABL mission requirement. The SOG is the hardware that produces the excited oxygen "fuel" for the Northrop Grumman-designed chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL). March 1997 Team ABL approved to begin manufacturing first laser hardware for ABL system. Less than four months after beginning $1.1 billion PDRR contract, Northrop Grumman receives the go-ahead to begin fabricating the program's first laser hardware. News Release November 1996 Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman Win Airborne Laser Contract The U.S. Air Force awards Team ABL -- Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman -- a $1.1 billion contract to develop and flight test the first Airborne Laser (ABL) weapon system. News Release August 1996 Northrop Grumman Laser Module Meets Airborne Laser Performance Requirements Northrop Grumman demonstrates that its Baseline Demonstration Laser (BDL-2) can meet performance requirements needed for Team ABL to build megawatt class laser that meets ABL mission requirements. July 1996 Team ABL submits proposal for program development and risk reduction (PDRR) phase of ABL program. News Release May 1996 U.S. Air Force releases Airborne Laser demonstration/validation Request for Proposal (RFP). March 5-8, 1996 Team ABL concept design review undertaken with U.S. Air Force; Final data package completed within 30 days. February 1996 Lockheed Martin beam control system brassboard is operational. October 1995 - Present Lockheed Martin performs beam control tracking, pointing and adaptive optics compensation demonstrations. September 1995 Team ABL undertakes operational concept review in Seattle. July 1995 Northrop Grumman TRACE Facility demonstrates 10 kW laser power goal. May - October 1995 Boeing performs wind tunnel testing of turret designs. April 1995 Northrop Grumman begins construction of the Baseline Demonstration Laser-2 (BDL-2. March - Nov. 1995 Boeing conducts a series of "Flex Blue" tests to determine vibration environment for Airborne Laser. April 1994 Team ABL is one of two competing teams selected for concept design study ($21 million, 33-month contract. September 1992 Boeing and Lockheed receive separate contracts to assess how well existing large airplanes -- the 707, 747, 767 and B-52 -- would perform while carrying a high-energy laser and beam control system. Both teams separately reach the same conclusion and recommend a 747 platform to the Air Force as the best option for the mission.