The prototype Airborne Laser successfully used its passive sensors to autonomously locate, acquire, target, and track an afterburning F-16 fighter moving vertically at a rapid rate of ascent, Air Force Lt. Gen. Trey Obering, head of the Missile Defense Agency, said in a May 9 statement. It was the first such test for the ABL. Obering called it “a significant milestone” that demonstrated a “number of key system capabilities.” Obering has said that ABL is on course to pass a series of “knowledge points” leading to a lethal shootdown of a boosting missile in 2009; however, Congress may be inclined to curtail the program in favor of other priorities.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
