Crosslink - Space-Library

The Airborne Laser:
Boost-Phase Missile
Defense at the
Speed of Light
The Aerospace Corporation has worked alongside contractors and government personnel to
develop the Airborne Laser—one of the first lines of defense in the Ballistic Missile Defense System.
James B. Thordahl
The Airborne Laser (ABL) is the world’s first airborne platform
designed to autonomously detect, track, and destroy
hostile ballistic missiles during their vulnerable boost phase
of flight. As the air-based component of the Ballistic Missile Defense
System (BMDS), the Airborne Laser’s primary mission is
to protect the United States, its deployed forces, friends, and allies
from a ballistic missile attack. It consists of a megawatt-class chemical
oxygen-iodine laser integrated with a beam-control/fire-control
system and a battle management, command, and control system on
a highly modified Boeing 747-400 freighter aircraft.
The ABL program office is located at Kirtland Air Force Base,
New Mexico, where the demonstration goal of shooting down a
boosting missile has taken giant strides between 2004 and 2007.
Successful milestones include complete installation and ground
testing of the laser in a 747 integration lab, airborne testing of the
passive acquisition and tracking systems, and ground and flight
tests of the active mission payload, which include ABL’s kilowattclass
track and beacon illuminators and a low-power surrogate
laser. These latest tests demonstrated ABL’s complete engagement
sequence against a noncooperative airborne target, including
passive acquisition, active tracking, target ranging, pointing, and
atmospheric compensation. A dual-path approach of high-power
testing of the laser system on the ground and low-power testing of
the integrated beam-control and battle-management segments on
the aircraft allows parallel progress and risk reduction in both areas
prior to full system integration.
The concept of ABL developed through collaboration between
the U.S. government and an industry team of Boeing, Lockheed
Martin, and Northrop Grumman. Like many large acquisition
programs, the ABL program office has relied on Aerospace to
provide objective programmatic support and technical expertise
throughout the acquisition, development, and execution phases of
the process.
Aerospace’s Role
Aerospace has been part of the ABL team since the program’s
inception in 1996. Five Aerospace engineers provide continual support
in the areas of integration and testing, systems engineering,
software acquisition and engineering, and the overall integration of
the ABL into the BMDS.
This small Aerospace team has made a large impact on the
program by providing onsite technical and programmatic reviews
during key ground and flight test phases, by serving as the government’s
technical advisor for development and integration, and by
acting as the primary ABL interface to the Missile Defense Agency
(MDA) for integration into the BMDS.
Aerospace has been recognized for its contributions: the team
was thrice named ABL technical contractor of the year, it received
the Air Force Materiel Command Test and Evaluation Award, and
it has been placed on the MDA’s contractor honor roll.
Mission and Concept of Operations
ABL was originally conceived as a theater weapon that would be
used by the United States to target ballistic missiles in a combat
theater, such as the Scuds used by Iraq during Desert Storm. However,
under the MDA, ABL has become part of a layered defense
system. Its mission is no longer only to shoot down theater missiles,
but to shoot down any missiles that may be attacking friendly
Crosslink Spring 2008 • 38