DATE=6/7/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-S / ISRAEL LASER (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-263270
BYLINE=JIM RANDLE
DATELINE=PENTAGON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: U-S Army officials say they have shot down a
missile with a laser beam, a major technical step
toward a system to protect northern Israel from
rockets fired by guerilla groups. V-O-A's Jim Randle
reports.
TEXT: It's called the Tactical High Energy Laser, and
U-S Army officials say the system tracked and
destroyed a single rocket during a test (Tuesday) in
the western American desert.
The target was a Soviet-designed short range Katyusha
rocket of the type that guerrilla forces have been
firing into Israel for years. Such missiles travel a
few kilometers and are armed with small conventional
explosive warheads.
Experts say an invisible laser beam, traveling at the
speed of light, struck the missile. The powerful
light's searing heat blew it apart.
The system is being developed and funded jointly by
the United States and Israel. The test was the first
in a series that must be completed before the laser --
which fills several large trucks -- is ready to
deploy.
U-S officials say the system could be ready within two
years.
Program manager Jerry Wilson says engineers must still
figure out how to fire at multiple targets.
He says another challenge is to make the complex
system robust enough to handle the mud and bumps of a
battlefield, and simple enough that soldiers -- not
scientists -- can operate it.
/// Wilson Act ///
It's really not rocket science, this system,
because of the critical engagement timelines, is
almost automated.
/// End Act ///
Mr. Wilson says computers will help soldiers follow
targets and monitor the complex systems needed to
generate the powerful beam of light.
Missile expert John Pike of the Federation of American
Scientists says Tuesday's successful test is a "major
step forward in developing battlefield lasers," which
have been under development for 25 years.
But he says it will be much harder to shoot down long-
range ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear
weapons and travel much higher, faster and farther.
/// Pike Act ///
The Katyusha you are shooting at a range of only
a few kilometers. An intercontinental ballistic
missile is going to be traveling over 20-
thousand kilometers per hour, you are engaging
it at ranges of many hundreds or maybe several
thousands of kilometers, so the national missile
defense -- intercepting long-range missile -- is
the hardest problem. Shooting one of these
Katyusha is basically the easiest problem in
missile defense.
/// End Act ///
Meantime, the U-S Air Force is working on an airborne
laser designed to stop medium-range ballistic missiles
shortly after they are launched. But that far more
powerful and complex laser is not scheduled to be
ready to deploy for another seven years.
/// Rest Opt ///
The development comes as the United States is also
working on a national missile defense system to
protect all 50 U-S states. The program is politically
popular, but technically unproven. It uses missiles -
- rather than light beams -- to strike warheads headed
for the American heartland. The proposal has drawn
strong protests from Russia and China, and strong
support from the Republican majority in the U-S
Congress. (Signed)
NEB/JR/JP
07-Jun-2000 14:48 PM EDT (07-Jun-2000 1848 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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