Anti-missile laser successful in first lab test

WICHITA, Kan. – A team led by the Boeing Co. has successfully fired a high-energy laser beam in a test for a program designed to destroy ballistic missiles just after they are launched.

It’s a “significant milestone” for the Airborne Laser Program, said the director, Col. Ellen Pawlikowski.

The test was done in a laboratory. In-flight tests will come later.

It was the first time that six separate modules, designed to fire as a single unit, worked together to produce laser power, Pawlikowski said .

Each module is about the size of a Ford Explorer and weighs about 4,500 pounds.

The test – called “First Light” – was successful on the first try, Pawlikowski said. It was performed at Edwards Air Force Base last Wednesday.

While the test lasted less than a second, its success verified that the physics of the design is correct, she said.

The test also was “the first step in validating the laser’s performance,” Pawlikowski said.

There is much work still to be done, but the achievement is critical to the operation and continued funding of the program.

Despite some attempts to reduce funding, Congress authorized $498.4 million in funding for the program for fiscal year 2005.

Cost of the program, up to the stage that it demonstrates the ability to successfully shoot down a missile, is estimated to be about $1.39 billion, officials said.

The Airborne Laser Program is one segment of the Missile Defense Agency’s layered system of missile defense.

Its mission is for planes equipped with the lasers to be positioned near areas in which enemy missiles may be fired.

The laser beams are then used to find, track and destroy missiles soon after they are launched.