Kirtland Air Force Base -- The Missi le DefenseAgency's Airborne LaserSystem program office here has received the Air Force Organizational Excellence Award for professionalism, knowledge, technical skills and achievements in the development of the Airborne Laser System.
The ABL is the first aircraft, mounted with a laser, with the potential to attack multiple targets at the speed of light, at a range of hundreds of kilometers.
The Missile Defense Agency took ownership of the Airborne Laser System in 2002 and continues to manage the development, integration and test of the ABL. Multiple world aviation and directed-energy firsts were accomplished during the high-power system integration test campaign. Its achievements include the first megawatt-class external lase from an aircraft in flight, the first lase of a boosting target with telemetry, and the first directed-energy kill of a short-range ballistic missile in flight.
The Ai rborne Laser Test Bed is a megawatt-class chemical oxygen iodine laser coupled with a sophisticated beam control and battle manager mounted on a modified Boeing 747-400F. It provides speed-of-light capability to support the advancement of directedenergy technology and the understanding of directedenergy applications. In February, ALTB successfully demonstrated the speed, precision and potential of directed-energy weapons by engaging and destroying a boosting ballistic missile.
The chemical oxygen iodine laser was developed here with the Weapons Laboratory,
now called the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate. The capabilities and many years of hard work in research and development with the COIL and adaptive optics technology pioneered by AFRL's Starfire Optical Range were all designed and developed on Kirtland AFB.
ABL staff members were recently recognized by the Air Force Association's highest honor in the field of science and engineering, the 2010 Theodore von Karman Award for successfully demonstrating ABL's capabilities in support of national defense and the warfighter.
"We are ver y proud of our team's accomplishments, including 61 missions, 10 boosted engagements, and two ballistic missile kills in 18 months. While we are both humbled
and honored by the recognition, we think the ABL team exhibits the best of what government and industry teams can be and the people of the United States should be proud of, as well of what their team has done for the Air Force, the Missile Defense Agency, the Department of Defense, and the nation," said Brig. Gen. Robert McMurry Jr., commander of MDA's program office at Kirtland AFB.