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U.S. Missile Defense Laser Passes Low-Power Test
The U.S. Airborne Laser system in recent testing demonstrated its capability to take the necessary steps to bring down ballistic missiles, Reuters reported Friday (see GSN, Aug. 16). Missile Defense Agency chief Lt. Gen. Henry Obering called the low-power tests completed Aug. 23 a “critically important milestone” for the program. The Defense Department continues its effort to restore $50 million that the House Appropriations Committee cut from President George W. Bush’s original $549 million request for the Airborne Laser program’s budget. The money was requested for fiscal 2008, which begins Oct. 1. The system would employ a laser mounted on a Boeing 747 to shoot down missiles in the early “boost phase” of flight. The prototype system fired its lasers more than 200 times during the low-power tests. “Data analysis has verified ABL's performance is adequate to enter the program's next phase,” the Missile Defense Agency said. The agency next plans to install a high-power, megawatt-class chemical oxygen-iodine laser manufactured by Northrop Grumman. The high-power system is expected to undergo an intercept test in mid-2009 using a mock ballistic missile as a target (Jim Wolf, Reuters, Aug. 31).
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