|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
U.S. Plans II: Extra Weight Will Not Affect ABL Test, Director Says While the Airborne Laser, a planned component in a U.S. missile defense system, is about 30,000 pounds heavier than expected, the system should still be ready for its first operational test scheduled for December 2004, Air Force Col. Ellen Pawlikowski, ABL program director, said Wednesday (see GSN, March 3). The ABL system weighs about 200,000 pounds, about 30,000 pounds more than the anticipated weight of 170,000 pounds, Pawlikowski said. The use of titanium instead of composite materials for some ABL components contributed, in part, to the increased weight, she said. The added weight, however, is small compared to the 700,000-pound capacity of the Boeing 747-400 freighter aircraft designated to house the system, Pawlikowski said. “The aircraft can certainly handle that” extra weight, she said (Marc Selinger, Aerospace Daily, March 7). For further information, see:
| ||||||||||
Back to top
