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Mission
Flying at 40,000 feet a single ABL aircraft would fly in 90 mile racetracks 2,
and be informed of ballistic missile launch either by onboard sensors or be
notified by JOINT STARS battlefield surveillance or AWACS early warning
aircraft. Air Force Magazine also states that in the near future, ABL may be
integrated with the Space Based Infrared System.
Then a low power infrared laser would then designate the target. The ABL's beam control equipment would then aim and fire the laser. According to the Air Force Magazine 3 article, the beam is generated by a "multimegawatt chemical oxygen iodine laser" and has a range allowing the aircraft to attack from "...hundreds of miles away" (a quote from Col. Michael W. Booen, program director cited in the article) 3.
The attack is intended to weaken and the rupture the skin of the missile while in boost phase, thereby hoping to cause direct destruction through explosion or indirect destruction through aerodynamic breakup in the early phases of flight.
The prototype is supposed to allow for 20 shots, however, production versions should allow for up to 40 shots (proto costs were cited to be approximately $1000 each) 3.
Air Force Magazine also states the IRST (InfraRed Search and Tracking) system used will be that already in use on the Navy's F-14 Tomcat to minimize development risks. Presumably the system is reliable enough for the aiming purposes of the ABL beam.
The attack begins with a 40 second climb to above the clouds, followed by a 10 second delay in target acquisition, and then about 18 seconds to a minute for on target lasing to generate the necessary destructive heating. 3
Mission range is determined by fueling, however, an ABL will be deployable from the U.S. in 24 hours, thus will be available for worldwide conflicts where it can be protected from other U.S. air assets.
Key Milestones
| Date | Milestone |
| June 1, 2000 | Team ABL delivers two laser steering mirrors |
| Mar 30, 2001 | Laser Module out of Development phase, setup for power tests begins |
| July 11, 2001 | Infrared Sensors for tracking system out of development |
| Mar 29, 2002 | ABL Team delivers first power module for high energy chemical laser |
| July 18, 2002 | ABL Aircraft makes first flight entering flight worthiness testing |
| November 18, 2002 | ABL Laser Delivered |
| September 10, 2008 |
First Ground Test Firing of Laser |
Issues
MILNET believes some research will need to be conducted into the effects of
the laser module exhaust which is intended to be vented into the atmosphere
through ports under the aircraft. The fuel mixture appears to be toxic,
and by products might be dangerous. A simple chemical analysis as well as a
small series of tests to detect the by products would easily resolve this
issue.
Also, the Air Force Magazine cites that the 1.5 meter telescope is one of the longer long lead items, needing to be carefully ground, just like any other high accuracy astronomical telescope.
Weight is another factor cited in the Air Force Magazine article. However, efforts are under way to reduce the weight of the lasing system by half using materials and experimental evaluation of the current prototype laser engine.
Costs for the program are approximately $4.9 billion for a 20 year operation and maintenance program, and when added to the development portion yields a total program cost of $11 billion. This for 1 fully combat ready prototype and seven full up production units delivered by 2008.
2 Sabers of Light, Popular Science Magazine, September 1997, pages 68-72., Mark Farmer and Frank Vizard, Copyright 1997. Popular Science, 2 Park Ave., New York, N.Y., 10016.
3 Defense at the Speed of Light, Air Force Magazine, November 1997, Copyright 1997, the Air Force Association, 1501 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA. 22209-1198.