Space Security Index

under the Advanced Weapons Technology program that have been characterized as
“experiments for applications including anti-satellite weapons;” a demonstration of “fully
compensated beam propagation to Low-Earth orbit satellites” was called for in the FY2007
budget request. 61 Funding was only authorized after the USAF denied any intent to test
Starre against a satellite. 62
e Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser Test Bed (ALTB) system — formerly known as Airborne
Laser — of the USAF is central to plans for Boost Phase Ballistic Missile Defense. 63 is
technology is believed by some experts to have potential ASAT capabilities, despite the
signicant technical and cost challenges it has faced. 64 e program was initiated in 1996
and took 12 years to reach rst light, at a cost of $5-billion. 65 e rst ballistic missile
interception was planned for late 2009 66 and nally occurred in February 2010 when the
ALTB system successfully shot down a test ballistic missile. 67
China operated a high-power laser program as early as 1986 and is believed to have since
acquired multiple hundred-megawatt lasers. 68 e Chinese government has also devoted
resources to high-power solid state laser research. 69 Researchers are studying adaptive optics
to maintain beam quality over long distances and the use of solid state lasers in space; both
technologies could be used against satellites. 70 In 2006, China reportedly used a groundbased
laser to illuminate an American reconnaissance satellite ying over Chinese territory. 71
However, with only public sources available, it is dicult to verify the nature of the laser
beam, the physical eects on the spacecraft, or the intent behind the illumination. 72 South
Korea is also interested in developing laser systems for use against North Korean missiles and
artillery shells, and had expressed hopes of deploying such a system in 2010. 73 Indian defense
scientists have also reportedly experimented with “high-power laser weapons.” 74
2010 Development
Directed energy weapons continue to be developed and tested
Following a series of preliminary tests in 2009, the U.S. conducted the rst successful testing
of an airborne laser weapon to destroy a ballistic missile using the Airborne Laser Test Bed
(ALTB) system on 3 February. e ALTB, consisting of two solid state lasers and a megawattclass
Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL) mounted on a modied Boeing 747, 75 is a
joint project of Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Boeing supplied the jet
platform, Lockheed Martin built the beam/re control system, and Northrop Grumman was
responsible for the high-energy laser.
Previous tests had demonstrated the tracking capabilities of the weapon system, but this was
the rst actual destruction of a missile in boost phase, 76 and Northrop Grumman described
the test as “turning science ction into fact.” 77 e intercepted missile was traveling at a speed
of 4,000 mph when it was destroyed by the COIL with a beam the size of a basketball. 78
During the test, an attempt to destroy a second target, a solid-fueled sounding rocket, failed
when an anomaly caused the ALTB to shut down before the target was destroyed. 79
In an October test the ALTB failed to destroy a solid fuel, short-range ballistic missile whose
rocket motors were still thrusting. Ocials were unsure of the cause of the failure. 80 In
November, Lockheed Martin received a contract to develop a high-power microwave energy
weapon with the capability of destroying sensitive electronics without human collateral
damage. 81 A test scheduled for 10 January 2011 was delayed because of turbulent weather. 82
Space Systems Negation
155