The Airborne Laser Anti-Missile Program (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Feb. 18, 2000 |
| Report Number |
RL30185 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Michael E. Davey, Resources, Science, and Industry Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
The Air Force is currently attempting to build and install a multi-megawatt airborne laser (ABL)
and
a complex optical system to direct the laser to the target, in a modified Boeing 747 to destroy theater
ballistic missiles in their boost phase. As an operational platform, the 747, along with its
multi-megawatt Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL) is being designed to destroy missiles in the
stratosphere above 40,000 feet (12 kilometers), within one to two minutes after launch, at ranges of
up to several hundred kilometers (km).
The 1991 "Gulf War" raised concerns about the destructive capacity that small nations can
possess in the form of short range missiles capable of carrying highly destructive warheads. This
capability motivated the U. S. military to seek an effective means of defense against missiles of short
to intermediate range, the so-called theater ballistic missiles (TBM).
The ABL program is currently in its Program Definition and Risk Reduction (PDRR) phase.
The PDRR is intended to produce a full-scale system, with a half-power laser. However, the
FY2001budget proposal includes a significant restructuring of the ABL program which, if approved
by Congress, would delay the ABL's first attempt to shot down a missile from FY2003 to FY2005.
Under the current budget proposal, funding for the ABL program would be cut $903 million between
FY2001 and FY2005. The current estimated cost of the ABL is $11 billion, including $1.6 billion
for the PDRR. If the proposed restructuring is approved by Congress, these costs would increase.
The Air Force contends that the ABL utilizes "mature" technology capable of destroying enemy
TBM at ranges up to hundreds of km. Others, including the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board,
have characterized ABL key technologies as "experimental." The congressionally mandated
Independent Assessment Team (IAT) identified a number of technical challenges facing the ABL
including laser power generation, laser beam pointing and tracking capabilities, prediction and
compensation of atmospheric distortion, and the use of enemy counter measures to defeat the ABL.
The IAT also indicated that the Air Force revised PDRR testing plan to address these challenges
should "reduce the risks and narrow uncertainties of the ABL program."
Congressional concerns about the ABL have been expressed since its inception. In FY1999
these concerns centered around two main issues. The first is the belief that the Air Force had not
adequately demonstrated the feasibility of the necessary technology to begin "such significant
investments" needed to complete PDRR. And second, that testing necessary to make important
decisions about the technological viability of the ABL program will not occur until FY2003, just
prior to ABL entering EMD, one year after the Air Force is scheduled to order a second
unmodified
747. The Air Force conducted a number of additional tests in 1999 to address a number of these
congressional concerns. The results of these tests are discussed in the report.
