Airborne laser fills vital need, officer says

By Lawrence Spohn
Tribune reporter

http://www.abqtrib.com/news/041700_colonel.shtml

     Col. Ellen M. Pawlikowski, who earlier this month assumed command of the Air Force's top weapons project, says its success ultimately will change the face of war.
     The Airborne Laser Attack Aircraft (officially the ABL, but some call it ALAA) is designed to use a powerful laser to destroy enemy ballistic missiles in midair shortly after launch.
     It is aimed primarily at countering the threat posed by an increasing number of rogue nations acquiring the capability of launching theater ballistic missiles, like the Russian-made Scuds that caused havoc in the Gulf War.
     But the project, whose 75-person Systems Program Office Pawlikowski now directs at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, faces some survival issues of its own.
     Most immediately it is a target on the administration's budget-cutting radar screen. A big target.
     The $1.2 billion project currently is outfitting a Boeing 747 freighter with a missile-launch detection and tracking system; a Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser; and an adaptive optic system that instantly corrects for atmospheric distortions and keeps the laser cannon accurately on target.
     After a change-of-command ceremony in which she accepted not only the ceremonial flag for the project but also its high-profile objectives, Pawlikowski said she is up for the challenge and still hopes the Airborne Laser Attack Aircraft will meet its demonstration target of shooting down a launched missile in 2003.
     A chemical engineer who earned her degree the University of California at Berkeley, the 44-year-old colonel previously has served in a variety of capacities, including deputy director of the Global Powers Program at Air Force headquarters.
     Tribune: How important is the Airborne Laser Attack Aircraft project?
     Pawlikowski: It's an exciting program that is on the cutting edge of technology and that is bringing a vital capability to the Air Force: a weapon that will be able to shoot down missiles over the enemy's own territory very soon after launch.
     It's a real weapons system that will be revolutionary and that will give us a tactical advantage because nobody else has it.
     Tribune: If that's true, why is this program facing budget cuts?
     Pawlikowski: The Air Force was faced with some tough budget decisions, and the chief has asked for a $92 million cut in next year's budget. We will be able to continue the program but at a slower pace.
     If the cut remains, it probably does mean a delay in the shoot-down demonstration in three years, pushing it back a year or two.
     But, no, we won't go away. The Air Force is solidly behind this project and we want to do the shoot-down, to demonstrate this capability is real, as quickly as we can.
     Tribune: But is this weapon important to the country, and why should citizens and taxpayers care about it?
     Pawlikowski: The importance to the country is tremendous. If we can bring it to the battlefield, an adversary is less likely to use their missiles. It prevents their capability to threaten our forces or our allies and it increases our ability to make and keep peace in the world.
     If we have it, our adversaries say why shoot (a missile) if it's not going to get there. So it's not just a new weapon; it's a deterrent because we not only can shoot that missile down, but while it's in flight above the country that fired it. And they have to think about that in terms of what's going to fall back down on them.
     Also, direct energy (lasers and other intense focused beams of energy) has many applications. The ABL -- which is a clean, effective and efficient weapon that is much cheaper than other weapons developed for the same purpose -- is the flagship for directed energy. I think it will open the door for other applications of directed energy in the military. But first we have to show we can do it, that it really does work.
     Tribune: How do you like Albuquerque as your new home?
     Pawlikowski: I'm really enjoying it and New Mexico. Aside from a little altitude adjustment, so far it's been very nice.
     This is my first time living in Albuquerque, though I have been here before from time to time. I like it because it's friendly, a relaxed place and a really refreshing change from Washington.

Interview With . . . appears Mondays in The Tribune.