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Airborne Laser Intercept Test Pushed Back to 2005 The U.S. Defense Department is planning to conduct an intercept test with its Airborne Laser system in 2005, not 2004 as was originally planned, Aviation Week and Space Technology reported Monday (see GSN, Aug. 4). “It gets more and more challenging to hold to the 2004 date,” said Airborne Laser program director Air Force Col. Ellen Pawlikowski. The test will be held at relatively close range, intended to show that the laser is functional, not to prove that it can work under duress. If the test is successfully completed, the Pentagon is considering using the Airborne Laser if a crisis situation erupts. In that case, the laser would be manned by its test personnel, according to Air Force Lt. Col. Keesey Miller, director of the laser’s integrated test force. Over the long term, Pentagon officials hope to base the laser in the United States but have it deployable within 24 hours. Program officials are still addressing several problem areas, including the weight and weight distribution of the laser’s equipment. “Weight is still very much a watch item for me,” Pawlikowski said (Robert Wall, Aviation Week and Space Technology, Sept. 1). U.S. Air Force officials are hoping that their work on the Airborne Laser project could help the Defense Department develop an ability to work with lasers that will translate into other areas of defense, Aviation Week reported. The Defense Department is currently looking into the possibility of a laser-based weapon mounted on F-16s. Program officials have also decided to continue using a Boeing 747-400F freighter as a platform for the laser. As the Pentagon continues to develop the weapon, however, the mission is changing, according to Pawlikowski. Originally tasked to shoot down theater ballistic missiles, the next iteration in 2008 could be asked to down “the full range of missiles,” including ICBMs, she said (Robert Wall, Aviation Week and Space Technology II, Sept. 1).
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