BILLION-DOLLAR DEAL : BOEING TO DEVELOP AIRBORNE LASER.Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox and Deborah Adamson Daily News Staff Writers A Boeing Co.-led group Tuesday won a $1.1 billion Air Force contract to develop an airborne laser missile-killing system, beating out a team that included Rockwell International Rockwell International was the ultimate incarnation of a series of companies under the sphere of influence of Willard Rockwell, who had made his fortune after the invention and successful launch of a new bearing system for truck axles in 1919. Corp.'s Canoga Park-based Rocketdyne unit. For Boeing, and its partners TRW TRW The Real World (TV reality show) TRW The Right Way TRW Tactical Reconnaissance Wing TRW The Retriever Weekly (University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD) TRW Thompson Ramo Wooldridge Inc Inc. and Lockheed Martin For the former company, see . Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is a leading multinational aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. Corp., the Defense Department award could develop into a $5.6 billion deal for seven laser-equipped 747-400 jets through 2008. It means modest job increases at the companies. Rockwell's partners were General Motors Corp.'s Hughes unit and Raytheon Co.'s E-Systems unit. Rocketdyne still could reap some of the rewards, though, since Boeing signed an agreement in August to buy Rockwell's defense and aerospace businesses. The Canoga Park-based unit is part of that deal. About 40 Rocketdyne employees have been working on the laser project. A Boeing official would not directly comment on their status because shareholders still must approve the deal. But Richard Hardy, a vice president of Boeing's Space and Defense, implied their skills could be put to use. ``I will say that the Boeing Co. has always made available to all our customers all the resources that the company has,'' he said. The Boeing team now has six years to deliver a workable airborne laser system to the Air Force. At that time a decision will be made whether to add the particle beam weapon For devices that send an electric current down a laser beam, see . A particle beam weapon uses an ultra high energy beam of atoms or electrons (eg., a particle beam) to damage a material target by hitting it, and thus disrupting its atomic and molecular structure. , which will have a range of about several hundred kilometers, to the nation's arsenal. The $1.1 billion will pay for research and development and two planes. One will be a prototype that will demonstrate a laser system can be carried aloft and generate enough power to shoot down a missile. The other will show that it can be built on a production line. Plans now call for both these planes to be converted to operational status. The airborne laser will be fitted into a modified Boeing 747 that will fly over friendly territory at altitudes above 40,000 feet, typically above cloud levels. From that vantage point, it will be able to track and destroy hostile missiles during their ascent phase. ``The media has reported increasing numbers of missiles in the arsenals of countries unfriendly to the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. ,'' said Paul Shennum, Boeing's program manager for the weapons system. ``This is a revolutionary system,'' Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ronald Fogleman General Ronald Robert Fogleman (born January 1942) was Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. As chief, he served as the senior uniformed Air Force officer responsible for the organization, training and equipage of 750,000 active duty, Guard, Reserve and civilian forces said at a Pentagon press conference. ``The system has the promise of providing the nation with a rapidly deployable global capability of defending against ballistic bal·lis·tic adj. 1. a. Of or relating to the study of the dynamics of projectiles. b. Of or relating to the study of the internal action of firearms. 2. missiles.'' At Rocketdyne's Canoga Park facility, news of the Boeing award came over the intercom. About three dozen workers who gathered for a party in a conference room of the restricted access Airborne Laser Department greeted the announcement with silence. ``We don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. the explanation or rationale behind it,'' said Don Slater slat·er n. 1. One employed to lay slate surfaces, as on roofs. 2. See pill bug. 3. See sow bug. Noun 1. , lead systems engineer who has been working on the ABL project for five years. ``I was confident about our prospects.'' As is typical in government contracts, no explanation was offered as to why the Boeing team won. ``Disappointment is probably an understatement,'' said Ron Johnson Ron Johnson is the name of:
CAPTION(S): Photo, Drawing Photo: (Color) ``We don't know the explanation or rationale behind it,'' said Rocketdyne's lead systems engineer Don Slater after losing the project. Tom Mendoza/Daily News Drawing: (Color) AIRBORNE LASER The Airborne Laser weapon, carried aboard a modified Boeing 747, sends a beam of energy to destroy enemy missiles while they're still climbing. The missile then falls over enemy territory. The Air Force plans a fleet of seven laser attack planes available as eary as 2008. Daily News |
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