First Airborne Laser Aircraft
Source: PR Newswire
January 22, 2000
First Airborne Laser Aircraft Arrives at Boeing Wichita
for Start of Major Modification Work
In Preparation of Laser System Installation and Testing
Next Year
WICHITA, Kansas - The first Airborne Laser (ABL) flying
platform -- a 747-400 Freighter -- flew into Boeing (NYSE: BA)
facilities in Wichita, Kan., today (Saturday, Jan. 22) and will
immediately begin 18 months of major modification work by Team ABL.
The aircraft left Paine Field in Everett, Wash., earlier today on its
next step toward becoming the world’s first flying missile defense
system.
At the end of the modification effort, the aircraft will
be ready for installation and testing of a sophisticated high-energy
chemical laser system capable of shooting down Scud-like missiles at
the speed of light
from hundreds of miles away. The ABL is to be the world’s first
laser-armed aircraft of the new millennium and a critical component of
the Department of Defense’s theater missile defense strategy.
The 747-400 Freighter rolled out from a Boeing assembly
building in December four months after manufacturing started.
Team ABL -- Boeing, Lockheed Martin and TRW -- and the
Air Force are developing a high-energy chemical oxygen-iodine laser
carried aboard a modified Boeing 747-400 Freighter.
Welcoming the widebody aircraft to Wichita was Lt. Gen.
Robert H. Foglesong, commander of the 12th Air Force and U.S. Southern
Command Air Forces. Joseph Diamond, Air Force program executive
officer for weapons, the Pentagon, joined the ceremony, as well. Also
on hand were Kansas state and congressional leaders, led by U.S.
Senator Pat Roberts, U.S.
Rep. Todd Tiahrt, U.S. Rep. Jim Ryun and Wichita Mayor Bob Knight.
"We are moving forward with the ABL to ensure that we
are providing the right equipment to our warfighters and thereby
continuing to enjoy our reputation as the only all-purpose aerospace
force in the world," Foglesong said. "It would not be smart to ever
let our airmen enter a fair fight -- the ABL is another step toward
ensuring we have an unfair advantage over our enemies."
Col. Michael Booen, director of the Air Force Airborne
Laser System Program Office at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.; and Team
ABL’s industry leadership, also flew into the Boeing plant this
afternoon.
Over the next 18 months, this Airborne Laser platform
will undergo significant changes. The most visible difference will be
the installation of a turret in the aircraft nose, from which a beam
of laser light will emanate to destroy Scud-like missiles hundreds of
miles away.
Additionally, the aircraft will be modified to accept a
multi-megawatt-class chemical laser, specialized optics, and computer
hardware and software that will allow the aircraft to spot a theater
ballistic missile in its boost phase shortly after being launched,
lock onto and destroy it.
"Today marks the hardware part of ABL’s revolution -- a
revolution in global airpower, missile defense, and in military
affairs," Col. Booen said. "My hat is off to the Air Force -- industry
team which has worked so hard. Your effort will save American lives in
the future."
This first aircraft designated for ABL -- the YAL-1A
Attack Laser -- is the first to be acquired for Air Force use under
the military’s new commercial "off-the-shelf" philosophy. Labeled
Aircraft No. 00-0001, the ABL platform also is the first U.S. Air
Force aircraft of the new century. The plane also is the third-ever
Boeing 747-400 built using a new fuselage assembly process that
significantly improves quality, and reduces rejection tags and cycle
time.
As Team ABL leader, Boeing is responsible for creating
the ABL surveillance system; developing the battle management, and
command and control system; integrating and testing the weapon system;
and supplying the 747-400 Freighter airplane. Lockheed Martin Missiles
& Space, of Sunnyvale, Calif., is building the ABL target-acquisition,
fire control
and beam control systems. TRW, of Redondo Beach, Calif., is building
the laser and the related ground-support subsystem.
"The ABL program continues on track to develop this
critical element toward establishing a comprehensive theater ballistic
missile defense," said Paul Shennum, Boeing vice president and Team ABL program director.
"Reaching this delivery and modification-start milestone
is significant in a number of ways: we’ve achieved it through teamwork
with the Air Force, innovation and dedication of all the Team ABL
people. And we’ve done it when we said we’d do it, for the price we
promised."
Air Force plans call for a fleet of seven ABL aircraft
to be ready for rapid deployment within 24 hours to any spot around
the globe. The fleet’s mission is to deter the use of theater
ballistic missiles. More than 30 nations today are believed to have at
their disposal more than 13,000 of those missiles. Many of those
countries also are known to have or are developing nuclear, chemical
and biological capabilities for their missiles.
During the current $1.3 billion Program Definition and
Risk Reduction phase, Team ABL is designing, developing, integrating
and testing the ABL weapon system. 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.
Source: Boeing
http://www.prnewswire.com
Kansas, Washington
AIR ARO