Boeing Fires High-Energy Chemical Laser

New Mexico Business Weekly - May 19, 2008

http://albuquerque.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2008/05/19/daily4.html





Monday, May 19, 2008 - 12:15 PM MDT

Boeing fires high-energy chemical laserNew Mexico Business Weekly
The Boeing Co. fired a high-energy chemical laser aboard a C-130H aircraft in ground tests for the first time May 13 at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque.

Boeing is developing the Advanced Tactical Laser for the Department of Defense to destroy, damage or disable targets with little or no collateral damage. The laser will be used to support missions on the battlefield and in urban operations.

Boeing concluded laboratory testing at Kirtland last year after demonstrating reliability in more than 50 firings, said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems.

"The first firing of the high-energy laser aboard the ATL aircraft shows that the program continues to make good progress toward giving the warfighter an ultra-precision engagement capability that will dramatically reduce collateral damage," Fancher said.

After conducting a series of additional laser tests on the ground and in the air, the program will fire the chemical laser in-flight at mission-representative ground targets, Fancher said. The test team will fire the laser through a rotating turret that extends through the aircraft's belly.

The industry team participating on the project includes L-3 Communications Brashear, which made the laser turret, and Hytec Inc., which made some structural elements in the weapons system.

A unit of The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA), Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world's largest space and defense business developers. The St. Louis-based unit is a $32.1 billion business with 71,000 employees worldwide.




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