Light 'em Up

The Missile Defense Agency's Airborne Laser program this week fired the megawatt-class, Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL) in flight for the first time, except for one little detail: The laser beam never left the Boeing 747.

That was on purpose, as lead contractor Boeing said in a statement:

During the test, the modified Boeing 747-400F aircraft took off from Edwards Air Force Base and fired its high-energy laser while flying over the California High Desert. The laser was fired into an onboard calorimeter, which captured the beam and measured its power.

"This was a significant test of the Airborne Laser's capabilities, demonstrating that the system has truly moved from the drawing board to reality," said Greg Hyslop, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems. "We have seen that the Airborne Laser's high-energy laser is functioning aboard the aircraft and that ABL is ready for more flight tests to further validate its viability as a mobile missile defense system."

Michael Rinn, Boeing vice president and ABL program director, said, "This test shows that ABL is on track to shoot down a boosting ballistic missile later this year. After years of development, the team is excited to be so close to delivering this transformational and unique directed-energy weapon system. We think ABL will be a game-changer for weapon systems the same way stealth technology transformed aerial combat."

Before the upcoming missile shoot-down demonstration, ABL's high-energy laser will undergo a series of additional flight tests, building toward lethal capabilities. It will advance from being fired into the onboard calorimeter to being sent through the beam control/fire control system, exiting the aircraft through a nose-mounted turret. This will represent a major achievement in directed-energy technology because it will be the first time a megawatt-class laser has been coupled with precise pointing and atmospheric correction in an airborne environment. The team will follow this milestone with the firing of the high-energy laser against a variety of increasingly challenging targets, culminating with an airborne intercept test against a ballistic missile in the boost phase of flight.

The ABL aircraft is a modified Boeing 747-400F whose back half holds the high-energy laser. The front section of the aircraft contains the beam control/fire control system, developed by Lockheed Martin, and the battle management system, provided by Boeing. Northrop Grumman developed and built the COIL.

According to a Northrop statement:

Maintaining the precise alignment of optical components within the laser while in flight ranks among the program's notable accomplishments, according to Steve Hixson, vice president of Advanced Concepts - Space and Directed Energy Systems for Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems sector.

"ABL has to keep all of the powerful laser's optical components perfectly positioned as the aircraft vibrates and flexes during flight," Hixson said. "Since we were unable to fly the kind of large concrete pads used to hold a ground-based laser's optics in place, we had to isolate the COIL's optics from the structure but also maintain alignment. So the team developed an optical bench isolation system that isolates disturbances caused by normal aircraft operations while maintaining alignment to the gain medium, or the source of a laser's optical power. It's like an automobile's 'smart suspension' that keeps the car riding smoothly at the same level over a bumpy road."

The ABL is scheduled to attempt an intercept of a boosting ballistic missile sometime this fall, after years of delay and billions of dollars spent on the effort. In June, House and Senate authorizers approved Defense Secretary Robert Gates' $1.2 billion cut to MDA's fiscal year 2010 budget request, which included the cancellation of the second planned ABL aircraft.

Instead, Gates directed MDA to look at technologies beyond intercepting in the boost-phase and into the "ascent" phase of a ballistic missile's flight.

Inside Missile Defense reported in June that MDA would give the ABL program three chances to intercept a boosting target missile before deciding whether to cancel the effort entirely:

"What we’ve set up in our budget is, we're giving it a chance for three strikes," Army Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly said at a conference sponsored by the National Defense University. "It's going to fly in September/October, that time frame, and if it is not successful there, we’re going to fly it again in the middle of the ((fiscal)) year, and if it's not successful, we’ll fly it again next spring, and after that third one, I am committed to come back to the . . . under secretary of defense for acquisition and make a recommendation: Should we continue with this project?"

According to MDA's latest budget justification summary, the agency is requesting $187 million for fiscal year 2010 for the ABL program, down from the $401 million appropriated in FY-09.

"This scaling back of the ABL program retains funding for the lethal shoot-down later this year with the Tail #1 aircraft; retention of critical skills needed for optics and fire control; and continued test flights and de-commissioning of the aircraft if the flight tests are unsuccessful," the summary reads. The agency also -- under the direction of Defense Secretary Robert Gates -- is canceling the design and purchase of a second ABL aircraft.