Boeing Completes Key Reviews for High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator Program — Press Release
Filed under: Boeing, Business Line, Companies, Events, Press Releases, S&T, development program, missile defense
Boeing Completes Key Reviews for High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator Program
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Oct. 26, 2009 — The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] today announced the successful completion of two key reviews for the U.S. Army’s High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator (HEL TD) program.
Completion of a critical design review in July allows Boeing to begin building a rugged beam control system on a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT), a widely used military tactical vehicle. A system functional review in June addressed key enablers for fielding a next-generation, solid-state laser weapon system.
“This demonstration program is making significant progress in developing a weapon system that will transform the way soldiers are protected on the battlefield,” said Gary Fitzmire, vice president and program director of Boeing Missile Defense Systems’ Directed Energy Systems unit. “HEL TD’s speed-of-light, ultra-precision capability will increase the warfighter’s ability to counter rocket, artillery and mortar projectiles.”
The Army in 2008 awarded Boeing a contract to develop the system-engineering requirements for the overall HEL TD system and to complete the design of, then build, test and evaluate, a rugged beam control system on a HEMTT.
HEL TD is a cornerstone of the Army’s high-energy laser program. The HEL TD demonstration program will support the transition to a full-fledged Army acquisition program.
Boeing leads the way in developing high-energy laser systems for a variety of warfighter applications. These systems include the Airborne Laser, Advanced Tactical Laser, Free Electron Laser, Laser Avenger and Tactical Relay Mirror System.
A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world’s largest space and defense businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $32 billion business with 70,000 employees worldwide.
# # #
Contact:
Marc Selinger
Boeing Missile Defense Systems
703-414-6138
marc.selinger@boeing.com
Chuck Cadena
Boeing Missile Defense Systems
703-872-4503
chuck.cadena@boeing.com
Photo courtesy of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems.
Airborne anti-missile laser weapon clears test
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Boeing and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency have moved closer to developing an airborne high-energy laser weapon that will shoot down an upcoming offensive missile.
Brownback Lauds Successful Airborne Laser Test — Press Release
Filed under: Boeing, Business Line, Companies, Congress, Department of Defense, Events, Kansas, MDA, Military Aviation, Services, States, development program, missile defense
Brownback Lauds Successful Airborne Laser Test
Congratulates Missile Defense Agency, industry team on successful in-flight test of laser tracking system
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today commented on successful tests of the Airborne Laser tracking system over the weekend. “The ABL continues to make history,” Brownback said. “Last Saturday, for the first time, a boosting missile was tracked by lasers able to compensate for atmospheric conditions and remain locked on target for an extended period of time.”
The Airborne Laser is a modified Boeing 747 that carries laser systems designed to track and destroy ballistic missiles during the early, or boost, stages of flight. The ABL consists of three lasers, a tracking laser, an environmental laser that compensates for atmospheric variables, and a weaponized laser, all working in conjunction to track and destroy missiles in their boost phase. The successful test was conducted this weekend while the plane was in flight and was able to continuously track a launched missile.
Brownback continued, “I want to congratulate the Missile Defense Agency and its industry partners on this test. Every day, their hard work brings us a step closer to having a boost phase defense against ballistic missile threats. Especially with North Korea’s recent provocative behavior, ABL’s progress is more important than ever.”
The Airborne Laser is scheduled to undergo a series of tests this summer, culminating in a full system test to shoot down a missile this fall.
STATEMENT: Michael Rinn, Boeing vice president and ABL program director:
This is the first time in history anyone has actively tracked a boosting missile with a laser while closing atmospheric compensation loops. This was done at significant ranges and for many times longer than would be required to kill the missile had the high-energy laser been used.
Additional missile engagements will fine-tune the pointing accuracy and performance of the system. This significant test is a major step toward conducting this year’s missile-intercept test, which will demonstrate the unprecedented speed, mobility, precision and lethality that ABL could provide to America’s warfighters.
Boeing Airborne Laser Team Begins Weapon System Flight Tests – Press Release
Filed under: Boeing, Business Line, Companies, Events, Lockheed Martin, MDA, Northrop Grumman Corp., Press Releases, Services, development program, missile defense
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., April 24, 2009 — The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA], industry teammates and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency have begun Airborne Laser (ABL) flight tests with the entire weapon system integrated aboard the ABL aircraft.
ABL, a heavily modified Boeing 747-400F aircraft, completed its functional check flight April 21 from Edwards Air Force Base with the beam control/fire control system and the high-energy laser onboard, confirming the aircraft is airworthy, ready for more airborne tests, and on track for its missile-intercept demonstration this year. “With ABL’s return to flight, we are on the verge of fully demonstrating the unprecedented speed, mobility, precision and lethality that ABL could provide to America’s warfighters,” said
Michael Rinn, Boeing vice president and ABL program director. ABL would deter potential adversaries and provide speed-of-light capability to destroy all classes of ballistic missiles in their boost phase of flight. Eliminating missiles in their boost phase would
reduce the number of shots required by other elements of the layered ballistic missile defense system. ABL also has the potential to be employed for other missions, including destroying aircraft and surface-to-air missiles.
The program has logged many accomplishments over the past several years. In 2007, ABL completed almost 50 flight tests that demonstrated its ability to track an airborne target, measure and compensate for atmospheric conditions, and deliver a surrogate high-energy laser beam on the target. In 2008, the team completed installing the high-energy laser onboard the aircraft and, for the first time, operated the entire weapon system at high power levels. Boeing is the prime contractor and overall systems integrator for ABL, and provides the modified aircraft and battle management system.
Northrop Grumman supplies the high-energy laser, and Lockheed Martin provides the beam control/fire control system. A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world’s largest space and defense businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of
military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $32 billion business with 70,000 employees
worldwide.
###
Contact Info:
Marc Selinger
Boeing Missile Defense Systems
(703) 414-6138
marc.selinger@boeing.com
Chuck Cadena
Boeing Missile Defense Systems
(703) 872-4503
chuck.cadena@boeing.com
Boeing Laser System Redeploys Quickly, Then Tracks Targets and Fires Laser – Press Release
Filed under: Boeing, Business Line, Companies, Events, Press Releases, Services, U.S. Army, development program, missile defense
Boeing Laser System Redeploys Quickly, Then Tracks Targets and Fires Laser
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., March 24, 2009 — Boeing [NYSE: BA] has successfully demonstrated its Re-Deployable High-Energy Laser System (RHELS) by quickly relocating the prototype weapon system from its Albuquerque development site to a test range, where it tracked ground and airborne targets and fired at a ground target. RHELS integrates a solid-state, thin-disk laser; an acquisition, pointing and tracking capability; beam control, fire control and thermal management systems; and a weapons operator console into a modified 40-foot-long shipping container transportable on a semitrailer.
Boeing began the two-week-long test Feb. 23 by packing up RHELS at its Albuquerque facility, moving it to a local government facility in Albuquerque and setting it up there, all in only a few hours. With the
system status re-established, RHELS then tracked in-flight aircraft and moving and stationary ground vehicles, and successfully fired its laser, hitting a remote target board on the ground. Due to test-range restrictions, the system did not fire at moving targets.
“RHELS demonstrates that a solid-state, high-energy laser weapon system can be transportable, rugged, supportable and affordable,” said Gary Fitzmire, vice president and program director of Boeing Directed Energy Systems. “RHELS drives tactical directed-energy laser systems out of the laboratory and into the hands of the warfighter. Its transportability
also means developers and warfighters have the opportunity to test this transformational, ultra-precision directed-energy weapon system at a number of ranges under varying conditions and against a diverse set of targets.”
In future tests, RHELS will fire its laser at in-flight targets and moving ground vehicles. RHELS is designed to engage rocket, artillery and mortar (RAM) projectiles, shoulder-fired missiles and unmanned aircraft, as well as a variety of ground-mobile tactical targets. RHELS is a Boeing-funded initiative to show that directed energy weapons are maturing and are relevant to today’s battlefield. It also provides key lessons for the High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator (HEL TD),
a truck-mounted, high-energy laser, counter-RAM weapon system that Boeing is developing for the U.S. Army.
“RHELS reduces risk for HEL TD in a controlled but realistic setting,” said Lee Gutheinz, Boeing program director for High-Energy Laser/Electro-Optical Systems. “It confirms the functionality of a compact, reliable and highly efficient laser system while maintaining future scalability to many tens of kilowatts of laser power.”
Boeing leads the way in developing high-energy laser systems for a variety of warfighter applications. These systems include Airborne Laser, Advanced Tactical Laser, HEL TD, Laser Avenger and the Tactical Relay Mirror System.
A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world’s largest space and defense businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense
Systems is a $32 billion business with 70,000 employees worldwide.
Boeing Laser Avenger Shoots Down Unmanned Aerial Vehicle in Tests – Press Release
Filed under: Boeing, Business Line, Press Releases, Services, U.S. Army, development program, missile defense
Boeing Laser Avenger Shoots Down Unmanned Aerial Vehicle in Tests
Jan. 26, 2009 — The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has successfully
demonstrated that a laser system mounted on an Avenger combat vehicle
can shoot down a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) like those that
increasingly threaten U.S. troops deployed in war zones.
During tests last month at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., Laser
Avenger achieved its principal test objectives by using its advanced
targeting system to acquire and track three small UAVs flying against a
complex background of mountains and desert. The laser system also shot
down one of the UAVs from an operationally relevant range. These tests
mark the first time a combat vehicle has used a laser to shoot down a
UAV.
Representatives of the U.S. Army’s Cruise Missile Defense Systems
project office observed the tests.
“Small UAVs armed with explosives or equipped with surveillance sensors
are a growing threat on the battlefield,” said Gary Fitzmire, vice
president and program director of Boeing Directed Energy Systems. “Laser
Avenger, unlike a conventional weapon, can fire its laser beam without
creating missile exhaust or gun flashes that would reveal its position.
As a result, Laser Avenger can neutralize these UAV threats while
keeping our troops safe.”
The tests follow a 2007 demonstration in which an earlier version of
Laser Avenger neutralized improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and
unexploded ordnance (UXO) on the ground.
“We doubled the laser power; added sophisticated acquisition, tracking
and pointing capability; and simplified and ruggedized the design,” said
Lee Gutheinz, Boeing program director for High-Energy
Laser/Electro-Optical Systems. “Boeing developed and integrated these
upgrades in less than a year, underscoring our ability to rapidly
respond to warfighters’ needs.”
Laser Avenger integrates a directed energy weapon together with the
kinetic weapons on the proven Avenger air defense system developed by
Boeing Combat Systems in Huntsville, Ala. It is a Boeing-funded
initiative to demonstrate that directed energy weapons are maturing and
are relevant to today’s battlefield.
Boeing leads the way in developing laser systems for a variety of U.S.
Air Force and Army warfighter applications. These systems include the
Airborne Laser, the Advanced Tactical Laser, the High Energy Laser
Technology Demonstrator and the Tactical Relay Mirror System.
A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems
is one of the world’s largest space and defense
businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer
solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of
military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense
Systems is a $32.1 billion business with 71,000 employees worldwide.
Contact Info:
Marc Selinger
Boeing Missile Defense Systems
(703) 414-6138
marc.selinger@boeing.com
Chuck Cadena
Boeing Missile Defense Systems
(703) 872-4503
chuck.cadena@boeing.com
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