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jlf1961 -> A Defense project that could be cancelled and save billions. (6/3/2011 6:43:08 PM)
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As of February of this year, the US Air Force has spent $5.2 billion on the Airborne Laser project.
The system is designed to shoot down ICBM's and TBM's during the boost phase of their flights.
Sounds great, a system that would shoot down enemy missiles BEFORE they actually became a threat to the US.
However, there are a few small, incidental, almost meaningless little items that are not talked about when the project is mentioned to the general public.
These are:
quote:
Air Force Chief Schwartz has said that the system "does not reflect something that is operationally viable.”
quote:
Secretary of Defense Gates said that "I don't know anybody at the Department of Defense, Mr. Tiahrt, who thinks that this program should, or would, ever be operationally deployed. The reality is that you would need a laser something like 20 to 30 times more powerful than the chemical laser in the plane right now to be able to get any distance from the launch site to fire.
"So, right now the ABL would have to orbit inside the borders of Iran in order to be able to try and use its laser to shoot down that missile in the boost phase. And if you were to operationalize this you would be looking at 10 to 20 747s, at a billion and a half dollars apiece, and $100 million a year to operate. And there's nobody in uniform that I know who believes that this is a workable concept."
Now for the kicker, Boeing Aircraft just got a 4.2million dollar 16 month contract to build a new laser to mount on the 747 test aircraft.
Now if the air force is no longer asking for funding for the project, why the hell are they building another laser for the damn thing?
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