Pentagon Considers Airborne Laser for ICBM Defense

The U.S. Defense Department is considering expanding the Airborne Laser’s prospective target list to include ICBMs, but a recent Pentagon analysis found that a “comprehensive” laser defense against ICBMs would require between 100 and 125 aircraft, Air Force Magazine reported this month (see GSN, Sept. 3).

The Pentagon has not yet made a decision about “the full application of ABL,” said program director Col. Ellen Pawlikowski.  She said that officials are considering the weapon for use in theater and national missile defense.  “We can contribute to both of those missions, in the boost phase,” she added.

To provide a “comprehensive” defense against nations with ICBMs, however, would require flying aircraft continuously in as many as 25 areas, according to a Pentagon official who has looked into a variety of missile defense architectures.  To maintain this defense, as many as 125 aircraft might be needed, according to the official.  A “highly capable” national defense would require 10-15 orbits, Air Force Magazine reported.

The Missile Defense Agency has only said it is planning to build seven Airborne Laser systems.

The laser system’s components will be integrated and installed this winter, and a ground test period is scheduled for spring 2004, Pawlikowski said.  Officials are currently working toward an intercept test by early summer 2005.

Officials have battled weight problems with the laser system, which Pawlikowski said came from inaccurate estimates.

“We’re getting ‘actuals’ in, as opposed to estimates,” she said, adding that the weight has added up to “far more than we had originally anticipated at critical design review” (John Tirpak, Air Force Magazine, September 2003).

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India, Israel to Move Forward Next Week on Early Warning Radar Sale

Israel is expected to move forward on the sale of three Phalcon airborne early-warning radar systems to India during a summit between the two countries scheduled to begin next week, according to the Wall Street Journal (see GSN, May 16, 2002).

The $1 billion Phalcon system sale is expected to be a key topic during the Israeli-Indian summit, the Journal reported.  The Phalcon is a Russian-built Ilyushin aircraft equipped with an Israeli radar.  Because some of the technology used in the system was jointly developed by Israel and the United States, U.S. approval was needed before the sale could go through, according to the Journal.  The U.S. State Department dropped its objection to the transfer earlier this year.

The Phalcon systems could help provide India with a further military advantage over its South Asian rival Pakistan by providing the capability to monitor aircraft and radio transmissions from hundreds of kilometers away, according to the Journal.  India is expected to use the systems to monitor Islamic militant groups in the disputed region of Kashmir.

“It’s a very sophisticated piece of kit that’ll give India a big strategic advantage over Pakistan,” said Nick Cook, an aerospace consultant with Jane’s Defense Weekly (Chazan/Solomon, Wall Street Journal, Sept. 5).

Meanwhile, the United States has not yet decided to grant Israel approval to sell the jointly developed Arrow missile defense system to India, according to The Hindu (see GSN, Aug. 18).  The review of the proposed sale is “ongoing,” sources said (C. Raja Mohan, The Hindu, Sept. 5).  

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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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Contractors Compete for Lucrative Ballistic Missile Target

Three U.S. defense contractors are competing for a rewarding deal to produce ballistic missile targets and countermeasures for the Pentagon, Aviation Week and Space Technology reported Monday (see GSN, July 28).

Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon submitted proposals for the multibillion dollar project early last month, and the Missile Defense Agency is scheduled to award the contract next month.

Defense officials do not yet know what type of targets or countermeasures will be needed, so the exact nature of the contract is unclear.  It is slated, however, to stretch over 10 years (Robert Wall, Aviation Week and Space Technology, Sept. 1).

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THAAD Program Set to Resume Testing

U.S. officials are planning a series of ground, flight and intercept tests for the Theater High-Altitude Area Defense program, Aviation Week and Space Technology reported Monday (see GSN, April 25).

The THAAD program last attempted flight tests in August 1999 but suffered several missed intercepts, which were blamed on faulty interceptors.

“We are building the maintainability and reliability” that was not present four years ago, said Reba Seals, deputy THAAD program manager.

Flight tests are scheduled to begin next year, and the Pentagon wants to resume intercept testing in 2005 (Robert Wall, Aviation Week and Space Technology, Sept. 1).

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Defense Department Makes Case to Allies for Merging Patriot, MEADS

The U.S. Defense Department last week tried to assure some of its international missile defense collaborators that the merger of the Medium Extended Air Defense System and the Patriot missile defense system will be a boon, Inside Missile Defense reported today (see GSN, Aug. 15).

Acting Pentagon acquisition chief Michael Wynne made the case to Jorg Kaempf, Germany’s director general of armaments, in an Aug. 28 letter.  Wynne said that the merger will allow the United States, Germany and Italy — the MEADS partners — to meet system requirements, speed up the deployment and lower costs.

Wynne’s director of international cooperation will lead a meeting in Washington next week with representatives from Germany and Italy (Daniel Dupont, Inside Missile Defense, Sept. 3).

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Japanese Officials Submit Formal Request for Missile Defense Funding

Japanese defense officials Friday requested $1.2 billion to provide Patriot missile defense protection for Tokyo, Asahi Shimbun reported today (see GSN, Aug. 22).

The Japanese Defense Agency also requested $463.4 million to fit the destroyer Kongo with an Aegis Standard Missile 3 system.  Tokyo wants to equip four Aegis destroyers with the Standard Missile over a four-year period (Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 2).

The United States, meanwhile, is considering bringing Japan under its ballistic missile defense umbrella, scheduled to begin operations in 2004.

Washington might station a warship off the coast of Japan to provide missile defense coverage until Tokyo can develop its own technologies, according to a Japanese news report (Gary Schaefer, Associated Press, Sept. 2).

Officials in Tokyo are debating a move that would allow a Japanese prime minister to issue a defense mobilization order, which would be needed to authorize defense forces to engage incoming ballistic missiles.  Under the existing Self-Defense Forces Law, the prime minister must obtain approval from the Security Council of Japan and the cabinet before issuing the order (Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 25).

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