From SpaceDaily.com
Integrated Testing Of First Airborne Ray Gun Completed
Sunnyvale CA - Apr 22, 2004
Lockheed Martin has completed factory testing of the optical benches for the Airborne Laser's Beam Control/Fire Control (BC/FC) system. The Airborne Laser (ABL) is the first megawatt-class laser weapon system to be carried on a specially configured 747-400F aircraft, designed to autonomously detect, track and destroy hostile ballistic missiles.
The Beam Control/Fire Control system will accurately point, focus and fire the laser to provide sufficient energy to destroy the missile while it is still in the highly vulnerable boost phase of flight - before separation of its warheads.
The ABL program is managed by the Missile Defense Agency and is executed by the U.S. Air Force from Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, N.M.
Lockheed Martin completed functional and performance testing of the two major elements of the Beam Control/Fire Control system -- the Multi-Beam Illuminator (MBIL) and the Beam Transfer Assembly (BTA) - at its Sunnyvale, Calif., facility where the complete BC/FC system is configured in the same design as it will be installed in the airplane.
One of the major functions of the BC/FC is to compensate for the operating environment - the vibrations associated with flight and the distortion of light due to Earth's atmosphere - in order to successfully shoot-down targeted missiles. The challenging task requires a sophisticated network of lasers, mirrors and precision optics combined with real-time software to manage the process.
The MBIL includes low-energy lasers and their alignment optics used to illuminate and track missiles and point the high-energy laser. The Track Illuminator Laser (TILL) illuminates the body of a missile to determine where to point the high-energy laser. Then, the Beacon Illuminator Laser (BILL) is used to determine atmospheric distortion in order to correct the shape of the high-energy laser to shoot down the missile.
The BTA contains the sensors, steering mirrors and deformable mirrors used to focus the high-energy laser on the target missile. The sensors facilitate automatic target detection and tracking, and detect the atmospheric distortion information provided by the BILL. The steering mirrors enable pointing of the high-energy laser at the target. The deformable mirrors shape the high-energy laser beam to compensate for atmospheric distortions.
Lockheed Martin performed extensive testing to verify that the system accurately controls every mirror at operational data rates. The tests validated that the BC/FC system is capable of acquiring a target, initiating tracking of the target, initiating atmospheric compensation, firing the high-energy laser and shutting down the system while maintaining beam quality and accuracy. To accomplish the tasks at the required speeds, the BC/FC system executes over 600,000 lines of "C" and Ada high-order software using the computer processing power of more than 80 Power Pcs.
"These computers are capable of executing over 72 billion instructions per second," said Lockheed Martin ABL program director Rob Brimmer.
Lockheed Martin will deliver the Multi-Beam Illuminator next month to ABL team lead Boeing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., where the Beam Control/Fire Control system and the high-energy laser will be integrated with the aircraft. Following the MBIL delivery, this spring Lockheed Martin will deliver the Beam Transfer Assembly and the Flight Turret Assembly. The Flight Turret Assembly houses a rotating 1.5-meter telescope used to direct the lasers at targeted missiles.
The ABL team - Air Force, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman - decided to deliver subsystems in phases so that detailed testing could continue while equipment is installed on the aircraft. The subsystems will be installed by working from the midsection fore and aft. The Multi-Beam Illuminator is the first BC/FC element to be installed on the aircraft, followed by the Beam Transfer Assembly, then the Flight Turret Assembly.
Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are working closely with the Air Force and the Missile Defense Agency to develop ABL. Boeing is responsible for developing the ABL battle management system, integrating the weapon system, and supplying the modified 747-400 Freighter aircraft. Lockheed Martin is developing the Beam Control/Fire Control system. Northrop Grumman is providing the complete chemical oxygen iodine high-energy laser system.
Lockheed Martin is a world leader in systems integration and the development of air and missile defense systems and technologies. These include the world's first successful hit-to-kill intercept with the Homing Overlay Experiment in 1984, the successful demonstration of the first complete weapon system using hit-to-kill technology with the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, as well as the world's first operational hit-to-kill missile defense system, PAC-3.
It also has considerable experience in interceptor systems; kill vehicles; battle management command, control and communications; precision pointing and tracking optics; as well as radar and other sensors that enable signal processing and data fusion. The company makes significant contributions to all 10 major U.S. Missile Defense Systems and participates in several global missile defense partnerships.
Lockheed Martin is involved in a wide range of ballistic missile defense programs and activities for the U.S. and international government customers. The corporation reported 2003 sales of more than $31 billion.
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North Korea and China are getting more and more nervous every day. As evidenced by the following:
China more than doubling budgeted military spending this year: Pentagon
WASHINGTON (AFP) Apr 23, 2004
China is more than doubling its budgeted defense spending this year as part of an aggressive military modernization strategy, including deterring any moves by Taiwan to declare independence, the Pentagon said.
China's official defense budget in 2004 is more than 25 billion dollars.
But when off-budget funding for foreign weapons system imports is included, total defense-related expenditures this year should soar to between 50 and 70 billion dollars, said Richard Lawless, the deputy undersecretary of defence.
This would rank China third in defense spending after the United States and Russia, he told a Senate hearing where China's military reforms were discussed Thursday.
Lawless, who handles security affairs in the Asia-Pacific, said that China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) had stepped up its modernization plan in recent years to prepare against any separation moves by Taiwan.
"In recent years, the PLA accelerated reform and modernization so as to have a variety of credible military options to deter moves by Taiwan toward permanent separation or, if required, to compel by force the integration of Taiwan under mainland authority," he said.
It also wanted capability to "deter, delay or disrupt third-party intervention in a cross-Strait military crisis," Lawless said.
China claims Taiwan as part of its territory despite a split 55 years ago at the end of a civil war, and has said it would invade if the island declared independence or descended into chaos.
The United States is Taiwan's biggest ally and arms supplier and is bound by law to provide weapons to help Taiwan defend itself if the island's security is threatened.
But Washington also acknowledges Beijing's position that Taiwan is part of China.
Lawless said PLA's determined focus on preparing for conflict in the Taiwan Strait "raises serious doubts over Beijing's declared policy of seeking 'peaceful reunification' under the 'one country, two systems' model."
He said conventional missile operations was among key areas of reform of the Chinese military.
Beijing's growing conventional missile force provides a strategic capability "without the political and practical constraints associated with nuclear-armed missiles."
"The PLA's short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) provide a survivable and effective conventional strike force and represent a real-time coercive option," he said.
China continues to improve the capabilities of its conventionally-armed SRBM force.
Some 500 to 550 SRBMs are deployed opposite Taiwan, increasing at a rate of 75 a year, Lawless said, adding that the "accuracy and lethality" of this force also were expected to increase through use of satellite-aided guidance systems.
He said China wanted to develop capabilities "to fight and win short duration, high intensity conflicts along its periphery."
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