The big weapons — the destroyers, the aircraft carriers, and the stealth jets — all emerged pretty much unscathed in the Pentagon’s latest budget. Some of the more bleeding-edge projects weren’t so lucky. Especially at the Missile Defense Agency, which took about a half-billion dollar hit for fiscal year 2008.
Take the High-Altitude Airship, for instance. Just a year ago, the Pentagon handed Lockheed a $150 million contract to build the missile-spotting dirigible. No, it wouldn’t be 25 times bigger than the Goodyear Blimp, as originally planned. Nor would it be powered by lasers. But it would still be built to “hover above the jet stream at an altitude of 65,000 feet for months at a time.” That is, if major advances in solar panels, fuel cells, aerodynamic controls, and flexible materials could be overcome.
Lockheed won’t get the chance any time soon, however. The High Altitude Airship “has been canceled due to funding constraints,” according to the Missile Defense Agency. But get too distraught, blimp-lovers; the budget for the Aerostat Joint Program Office just jumped from $243 million to $481 mil.
The Airborne Laser — the modified 747, meant to zap missiles as they take off — still gets more than $500 million in the new budget. But its first live-fire test has been delayed, again. Originally scheduled for 2002, the blast has now been rescheduled for 2009, Inside Defense notes. The Laser Jet’s alternative — the “Kinetic Energy Interceptor,” a non-explosive interceptor missile — has been pared back, as well. There’s no longer a “kill vehicle,” or warhead, part to the program, Defense News observes. Instead, the KEI has been tweaked, to become a “common booster” for all sorts of missile interceptions.
There’s much, much, much more in this budget to explore. Expect lots of posts in the week to come.
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It would be a big mistake to impede the ABL. In addition to the capability of taking out ballistic missiles in boost phase, I believe it also has the capability to damage satellites in low Earth orbit. The air to air potential is there too. Air to ground as well. This system has renewed strategic value.
**Note to Sen. Carl (The Penguin) Levin.
The MDA has a number of projects for the three phases of Ballistic Missile Defense, many of which are in development. Ones that are “proven” (like the Patriot PAC-3, early versions of which covered MY back over in OIF), Aegis Cruisers and THAAD need to be given the lions share of funding and made operational to counter a potential DPRK threat. Similarly, detection systems need to be “green lighted” to enable us to accurately detect potential missile launches. While the ABL is a promising project, they would be “too few, too far dispersed” to counter multiple launches. So, lets focus our efforts on the “best projects” and funnel the austere budget to those that show the best and fastest return on investment. With so many “Boots on the Ground” in OEF/OIF, and the challenges of this Budget, MDA needs to bite the bullet and select the best of the best, and defer the rest!
If the Veteran’s community (United Veteran Organizations) could convince the Orange County Board of Supervisors (California) to hand over the Blimp Hangar at LTA (Tustin USMC Air Base) we would have a large enough Hangar to house and preform maintenance on these proposed Giant Blimps. They are 1000 foot long, 300 foot wide, and 18 stories high. We want to preserve it as they were erected in 1943 to support our coastal defense. This is the largest wooden structure still standing which was (until recently) was in the National Resistry of Historical Buildings, however the Department of the Navy allowed it to be removed due to local political pressures from the City of Tustin and the O.C. Board of Supervisors. They turned down our $400,000,000.00 in redevelopment plans for their own plans and developers. Not Veteran friendly!
Giant Blimp !! Someone Paid money to build a
Giant Blimp !! I sure hope they get Fired! A Blimp is a World-War-1 weapon ! Maybe they want to bring-Back the Horse & Wagon Too ! Maybe they can use the Horse & Wagon to Pull the “Black Powder Cannon !! No wonder the USA is running out of money.
Just who in the hell are we 3 Billion dollars worth of worried about? North Korea? Iran? Certainly not!!! Russia?? Not any more!
ANY — I repeat — ANY launch of nuclear bearing missles would be detected by current defense mechanisms and disposed of LONG before it reached our shores — or any NATO nation for that matter! Why aren’t we hlding on to those “pork barrel” funds for Vets and anti-terrorist policing and things that are really needed? Another ludicrous waste of tax bucks.
I worked for the VA for 9 years, and we were subjected to program and staffing cuts like crazy! Just so the politicians with stock in Lockheed rtc. could retire rich? Where’s MY retirement “golden umbrella”?? BULL!!!!
So the first shot taken by a would be enemy is to knock out the blimp. Then what?
So I guess the pentagon will spend another few hundred million to protect the blimp.
Aren’t we the guys who managed to keep the old USSR in check with it’s thousands of war heads because of the threat of massive retaliation? The ‘cover-and-duck’ appeased the older generation. Pull it out, dust it off and sell it to the kids as the way to protect onesself from misssles.
Just in case anyone comes here this late:
What’s the story on the Navy’s pursuit of FEL (Free-electron laser) technology as a weapon ray?
My friends at “JLab” need to know — jobs depend on it.
The HAA is prospect project. And Russia try to part in such program.
Defense airships in stratosphere have to belong countries from G8.
By the way, HAA may use not only for the defense programme. For ex., such platform will be useful for telecom., altitude semi-space tourism, base for astronauts’ halfway landing and renew onboard team, extremal parachute jumping etc.
I hope projects of HAA have to stay program for wide world scientist and technologiest prospective association for man’s benefit
Medusa: Space Age Weapon
http://www.p2pnet.net/story/12661