The U.S. Missle Defense Agency (MDA) reports that its airborne laser successfully shot down its first ballistic missile last night over Ventura, California.
The MDA’s press release explains that the airborne laser “successfully destroyed a boosting ballistic missile” and “the entire engagement occurred within two minutes of the target missile launch”.
According to Reuters, the laser system, called a “Airborne Laser Testbed (ALTB)” is being developed by Boeing Corporation and the MDA and is essentially a “modified 747 jumbo jet” with a “higher-energy laser” attached to the nose of the plane.
Unfortunately the Obama administration has slated the Airborne Laser program for budget cuts. And these are not the only Obama cuts to our nation’s multi-layered missile defense system. The Obama Administration has proposed: to cap at 30 the number of fielded interceptors for countering long-range missiles; to terminate the Multiple Kill Vehicle (MKV) program for defeating counter-measures in the midcourse stage of flight; and to terminate the Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI) program for intercepting ballistic missiles in the boost-phase stage of flight.
Heritage F.M. Kirby Research Fellow in National Security Policy Baker Spring adds:
Although the U.S. Department of Defense and its industry partners work constantly to advance and improve defense technology, it is a rare occurrence when one such program can be described as a breakthrough. Mark your calendars, because just such an occurrence took place on February 11, 2009, off the coast of California. That day the Missile Defense Agency announced that a modified Boeing 747 aircraft carrying a high energy laser had tested the laser against a boosting ballistic missile and successfully intercepted and destroy the target missile (http://www.mda.mil/news/10news0002.html).
It is understandable that the America people may have believed that using a laser to shoot down a launching ballistic missile is the stuff of science fiction. Clearly that used to be case, but today it is just science and no longer fiction. The Missile Defense Agency attached pictures and videos of the test to its on-line announcement and must be seen to be believed. The Missile Defense Agency and its contractor team, which included Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, deserve the heartfelt congratulations of the American people for this achievement.
It also important for the American people to recognize what this means for ballistic missile defense. It demonstrated a system that is capable of destroying a ballistic missile in the boost phase, before it releases decoys and other countermeasures that are able to confuse or overwhelm missile defense systems that intercept their targets later in flight, at the speed of light. Clearly, this breakthrough will lead to further refinements of directed energy weapons technology, including for purposes other than ballistic missile defense. It should be recognized, however, that it was the ballistic missile defense program that brought about this extraordinary technological breakthrough. Accordingly, it would be foolish for the Obama Administration to curtail this program and others developing this class of technologies.
To see the full range of the government’s Ballistic Missile Defense System, consult the MDA’s interactive graphic. For those interested in the importance of American ballistic missile defense, check out Heritage’s 33 Minutes documentary.
Update: As John notes in the comments, the MDA has just released the official video from yesterday’s test. We’ve updated the video.
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced on January 31, 2010, that a test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system for countering long-range missiles that took place over the Pacific Ocean that day failed to destroy the target missile. The initial review suggests that the failure occurred because a new Sea-Based X-Ban radar that was tracking the target missile failed to work as expected. A more detailed review of why the GMD system failed to intercept and destroy the target has been initiated.
It is to be expected that critics of the missile defense program will now call for the program to be terminated. Accordingly, it is appropriate to note that many of these critics oppose the missile defense program for the reason that they view missile defense as complicating the arms control and disarmament agenda they support. For them, this test failure has nothing to do with their opposition to the program. Indeed, they would likely see a successful test as a stronger reason for terminating the program than a failed one.
Regarding the technology, even curtailing, let alone terminating, the GMD program would be shortsighted. Failures in a test program for technology as advanced as the GMD system should be expected. For example, the Navy’s Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) program suffered numerous test failures in the 1950s. Polaris, however, laid the foundation for the deployment of an SLBM force that was the backbone of the strategic nuclear force that deterred a Soviet nuclear attack for much of the Cold War. Furthermore, it is frequently the case that the scientists, engineers and contractors working on an advanced technology program will learn more from failed tests than successful ones. The proper response to a failed test, like the one on January 31st, is to maintain a robust program that applies the lessons from the failure to advance the program in the future. The alternative is to believe that any advanced technology weapons program can succeed under a circumstance where it is always just one test failure away from termination. If anything, the testing program for the GMD system has been too timid because of concern about negative political reaction to any such failure and inadequate testing budgets. Under this timid approach, the opportunities for dramatic advances in technology are very limited.
Finally, this test was designed to mimic the sort of long-range missile attack on the United States that Iran is likely to be able to mount in the future. The GMD system is the only one currently available to protect U.S. territory against long-range missile attack. If this program is canceled, the U.S. will again become vulnerable to attacks with long-range ballistic missiles. It is intolerable that the American people would remain so vulnerable. The GMD program needs to continue and companion sea-based ballistic missile defense systems should be advanced to give them the capability to counter long-range missiles for the defense of U.S. territory. Currently, the sea-based systems are capable of countering only short- and intermediate-range missiles. Finally, the U.S. could revive a program pursued during the Reagan and George H.W. Bush Administrations to develop and field space-based ballistic missile defense interceptors. All three steps are necessary if the federal government is going to meet its obligation to provide for the defense of the American people.