Zombie Laser Plane Returns to Haunt Washington

[n2doc]

By Nathan Hodge May 13, 2010 | 9:14 am | Categories: Lasers and Ray Guns



As part of a revamp of missile defense priorities, the Obama administration last year shifted funds away from far-out schemes to blast enemy ballistic missiles as they lift off from the launch pad. And as part of the shift, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates canceled the second prototype of the Airborne Laser (ABL), a Boeing 747 outfitted with a chemical laser designed to zap missiles in the so-called “boost phase.”

But some members of Congress love their flying lightsaber. In a markup yesterday of the Fiscal Year 2011 defense authorization bill, a House Armed Services Committee panel proposed adding more funds to revive the ABL program.

“It was clear that the budget request was not sufficient to support further flight testing using the Airborne Laser Test Bed as well as mature innovative directed energy technologies,” said Rep. Michael Turner of Ohio, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces.

It’s too early to say if ABL will actually stage a comeback: The Senate has a say in this, and appropriators need to pony up the cash. But it’s starting to look as if ABL is a candidate for our growing list of zombie weapons programs.


http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/05/zombie-laser-plane-returns-to-haunt-washington/

[Scuba]

1. But we can't afford (fill in the program that will help the American people)