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Article: ABL Considers Missions Beyond Missile Defense.(Airborne Laser)
- Article from:
- Defense Daily
- Article date:
- January 23, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Access Intelligence, LLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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By Ann Roosevelt
The Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) Airborne Laser (ABL) is considering missions beyond its initial task of detecting, tracking and destroying hostile missiles in the boost phase above the cloud deck, the program office said.
The program office is now more openly discussing some of the options under study that previously had been closely held, a program official said.
The ABL consists of a megawatt Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL) installed aboard a Boeing [BA] 747-400 aircraft. Boeing is the prime contractor on the program. Northrop Grumman [NOC] builds the COIL laser and Lockheed Martin [LMT] provides the beam ...