U.S. Might Shelve Airborne Laser Plans

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s Airborne Laser program is so far behind schedule and over budget that the agency could ultimately decide to kill the project, Defense News reported today (see GSN, July 6).

“It is frustrating that we were able to keep only one of the three things [performance goals] under control,” Air Force Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish said before retiring as agency chief. “What happened is we tried very hard to keep the performance as good as we can make it, but we were unable to control the other two variables [cost and schedule] because of the unexpected difficulties in matching the laser plants with the optics,” he added.

If cost and schedule goals are not met, Kadish said the agency would recommend either killing or significantly changing the project aimed at using lasers to shoot down missiles. “The other solution might be redoing some of the technology in the lab,” he said.

The agency is “not in any way, shape or form ready to give up on the ABL,” he added (Gopal Ratnam, Defense News, July 12).

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