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Article: AIR FORCE COMFORTABLE WITH AIRBORNE LASER VULNERABILITY.
- Article from:
- Defense Daily
- Article date:
- June 14, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 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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Critics of the Boeing [BA]-Lockheed Martin [LMT]-TRW [TRW] Airborne Laser program, being developed by the Air Force to counter ballistic missiles, have said that the lumbering 747 on which it is based will be vulnerable to advanced surface-to-air missiles and fighters that threaten its ability to carry out its mission.
Air Force officials, however, tell a different story. While the aircraft itself is large and maneuvers like a transport rather than a fighter, it will be no less vulnerable than other support assets like the Boeing E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) or Northrop Grumman [NOC] E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint ...