Airborne laser program revolutionizing airpower for the 21st century

Tyle T. Kanazawa; Albert J. Simon

doi:10.1117/12.323925

8 September 1998 Airborne laser program revolutionizing airpower for the 21st century

Tyle T. Kanazawa, Albert J. Simon

Proceedings Volume 3381, Airborne Laser Advanced Technology; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.323925
Event: Aerospace/Defense Sensing and Controls, 1998, Orlando, FL, United States

Abstract

The Airborne Laser is an Air Force Major Defense Acquisition Program to develop and field an airborne high energy laser weapon system to provide speed-of-light lethal defense against hostile theater ballistic missiles in the boost phase. The Air Force believes the Airborne Laser has the potential to revolutionize air warfare. The advanced technologies being introduced by the Airborne Laser presents new and unique challenges for acquisition, operations, and supportability. This paper provides a program overview, and will cover the threat, system description, technology maturity, and acquisition strategy. The Airborne Laser program successfully passed through its Milestone 1 Defense Acquisition Board decision to proceed from Concept Design into Program Definition and Risk Reduction phase, to design, build, integrate, and conduct a lethal airborne demonstration against a boosting missile in 2002. Upon a successful lethal demonstration, the program will then proceed into Engineering and Manufacturing Development and Production. Initial Operation Capability will be in 2006 with three aircraft, and Full Operational Capability will be in 2008 with seven aircraft.

Citation Download Citation

Tyle T. Kanazawa and Albert J. Simon "Airborne laser program revolutionizing airpower for the 21st century", Proc. SPIE 3381, Airborne Laser Advanced Technology, (8 September 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.323925

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available

Members: $17.00

Non-members: $21.00 ADD TO CART

PROCEEDINGS
6 PAGES

DOWNLOAD PAPER SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

GET CITATION

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Get copyright permission Get copyright permission on Copyright Marketplace

KEYWORDS

Airborne laser technology

Missiles

Defense and security

Weapons

Laser energy

Laser missile defense

Atmospheric optics

Show All Keywords

Keywords/Phrases

Search In:

Publication Years