Laser aircraft arrives for test work

12/23/2002 - EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) -- A first-of-its-kind aircraft joined the cadre of weapon systems getting tested at the Air Force Flight Test Center when the YAL-1A, or Airborne Laser, touched down here Dec. 19.

The aircraft arrived from the Boeing Maintenance and Modification Center in Wichita, Kan.

The YAL-1A will rely on sensors, lasers and sophisticated optics to find, track and destroy ballistic missiles while they are in the launch phase. When fully developed, the system will perform its mission by focusing its megawatt-size chemical laser on the missile's fuel tank, causing it to rupture and explode.

Experts from the Airborne Laser Integrated Test Force here will soon begin installing the lasers and optical system on the test aircraft.

"This means that we can start the important job of installing the components that will make this the world's first laser-armed combat aircraft," said Col. Ellen Pawlikowski, ABL program director at Kirtland AFB, N.M. "It won't be something we can do overnight, but I have every confidence that it will be done and done well."

Today, the aircraft, its lasers and optics, and the computers that make up the brains of the system, are being integrated and tested individually. The team has already conducted initial airworthiness and sensor flight tests and is now integrating the chemical laser system on an existing test fuselage housed inside the ABL Systems Integration Laboratory. The 7,000-square-foot laboratory was designed and built specifically for the Airborne Laser integration effort.

The final key to testing here is bringing the laser and optical components together and making them work as an integrated system. The goal is to integrate and test the laser on the ground before testing the system in the air.

"We've spent many months building our facilities to make them ready for the next stage in the development of the Airborne Laser," said Keesey Miller, director of the Airborne Laser Test Force. "As busy as we've been in the past, we're going to be even busier in the future as we build, test, and install the lasers and the highly sophisticated optical equipment that will make this weapon system ready to meet the challenges of the future."

The ABL program's ultimate goal is to shoot down a ballistic missile by the end of 2004. Plans also call for a series of tests against other targets on the ground and in the air before the missile shoot down. A U.S Air Force-led team with Boeing, TRW and Lockheed Martin is responsible for developing the Airborne Laser under the direction of the Missile Defense Agency.

Pawlikowski said the team must remain committed to ensuring the Airborne Laser performs as advertised.

"We still have some very challenging tasks ahead of us," she said. "But today's arrival is a major step toward fulfilling President Bush's clearly defined objective to build a system capable of defending the United States, our troops and our allies from enemy missile attack."