Actualizing the concept of the airborne laser�a high-energy laser mounted on a modified Boeing 747-400F freighter�has required immense collaboration on every level. Like many large programs, Team ABL, which consists of a handful of defense contractors and the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), relies on technical expertise from The Aerospace Corporation and other support contractors.

Over the past year, Aerospace employees James Thordahl, director, and Alvin Gilbert, project engineer in the company's Directed Energy, Space and Directed Energy Technology Directorate in Albuquerque, N.M., have been a critical part of the team that supports the Beam Control Fire Control (BCFC) segment of the program.

This portion of the ABL is responsible for target tracking, aiming of the lasers, and compensating for atmospheric conditions. In everything from BCFC systems engineering, integration and testing and performance evaluation, Aerospace has provided on-site support for the ABL team.

By the final month of last year, the ABL program accomplished both of its planned 2004 milestones: the first light, or use, of the high-energy laser system and the first flight of the integrated BCFC segment. With Aerospace experts on hand, the path to integration of the BCFC system, first in the laboratory and later on the ABL aircraft, culminated with the return-to-flight of the newly installed system on December 3, 2004.

In a letter to Aerospace President and CEO Dr. Bill Ballhaus, Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, director of the Missile Defense Agency, commended Thordahl and Gilbert for their contributions to the program.

"These gentlemen were an invaluable source of independent and objective views of development status for both government and contractor management," Obering wrote. "They are very qualified, knowledgeable, and always �part of the solution.'"

First contracted by the Air Force in 1996, the ABL program has seen leaps and bounds in demonstrated technology, along with varying levels of policy-maker support throughout its nearly decade-long existence. The accomplishments of the BCFC segment were particularly noteworthy and helped ensure continued funding for the project during a time of MDA budget cuts.

In further recognition of their support for the ABL program, Thordahl and Gilbert were both recognized as part of the ABL team that received the Air Force Materiel Command Test and Evaluation team award.

Past support, culminating in the first flight of the integrated BCFC system, has laid the groundwork for future ABL progress. Thordahl and Gilbert, along with Pat Enns, project engineer, Directed Energy, (Ballistic Missile Defense Systems Integration), Carole Robbins, project engineer, Development/Demonstration (systems engineering), and Lee Chavez, project engineer, Directed Energy (software engineering) will be continuing their support to the ABL program and its integration into the MDA's Missile Defense System.

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