LASER WEAPON TESTING TO CREATE JOBS.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

Testing of a laser weapon intended to destroy Scud-type missiles will provide 200 jobs and pump about $11.1 million into the Antelope Valley economy, according to an Air Force report.

The employment and economic impact numbers for the airborne laser program are included in a draft environmental impact statement prepared for the program, which the Air Force plans to house at Edwards Air Force Base.

A public meeting on the document is scheduled for 7 p.m. Dec. 12 at the Antelope Valley Inn, 44055 Sierra Highway.

The statement says no significant environmental harm is expected from the program, which would use a laser mounted on a modified Boeing 747 freight-liner to shoot down short-range and intermediate-range ballistic missiles and protect armies, airfields and ports.

``This is a chance for people to comment on the draft environmental impact statement,'' said Connie Rankin, spokeswoman for Phillips Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., which is overseeing the program.

Air Force officials plan to use a portion of the B-2 stealth bomber South Base complex at Edwards to house the program. Renovation work to accommodate the program will cost about $34 million and will take a year to 15 months.

Fifty people are expected to be hired from the Antelope Valley during the renovation. The program itself will employ about 150 civilians working for contractors and 50 Air Force personnel.

Through wages and local contracts, the project is expected to pump at least $11.1 million into the region.

Renovation work is planned to begin in 1999. Ground tests of the aircraft, a modified Boeing 747-400F freighter, and the laser system will begin in 2000. Flight tests could begin in 2002.

The laser will actually be tested over ranges at China Lake Naval Weapons Center and Vandenberg Air Force Base, the document said.

In combat, the airborne-laser aircraft would fly at 40,000 feet or higher and about 55 miles behind front-line troops. The aircraft will use a mix of on-board systems and information from other sources, including satellites, to find ballistic missiles as they are launched.

The laser will hit the missile's fuel cell, causing it to rupture.

In October 1994, scientists at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico tried out the laser in ground tests on replicas of Scud missile fuel tanks. The laser destroyed the replicas in seconds, according to Air Force officials.

The airborne laser is being developed by a team of Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin, and TRW.