WASHINGTON -- The United States has launched a project to convert a
standard civilian jet into a flying laser killer.
The U.S. Air Force project will convert a Boeing 747-400 cargo jet into
a plane armed with a laser that can destroy incoming ballistic missiles. It
would be the most significant step of the multi-billion dollar Airborne
Laser System.
The work is taking place at a facility of the Boeing Co. in Wichita,
Kan. and is expected to take 18 months. A chemical oxygen-iodine laser will
be mounted in a turret on the jet's nose meant to knock out ballistic
missiles.
The first test of the airborne laser is scheduled in 2003, Boeing said.
Other contractors are Lockheed Martin and TRW.
The air force plans to deploy seven airborne lasers to deal with enemy
ballistic missiles. The range of the laser will be several hundred miles and
will be part of a large anti-missile defense system.
Boeing said more than 30 nations, such as North Korea and Iraq, have
some 13,000 theater missiles in their arsenal.