Dominant Logistics
Communicating with the Air Borne Laser
One of the more ambitious efforts in the missile defense area is the use of an airborne laser (ABL) to conduct boost-phase intercept of tactical ballistic missiles like the Scud. There is still considerable work necessary to turn this system into a working unit but there also remains the possibility that it simply won't work well enough to justify its use. Because of this, many have questioned the wisdom of going forth with the ABL program. But there is another critical area where the ABL could be of great use.
Lasers offer an assortment of advantages in the area of communications compared to traditional radio signals. They are more secure, can be transmitted over greater range, and offer greater bandwidth. Unfortunately, they are also very expensive, very complicated, and difficult to use. If we are going to develop the ABL for missile defense anyways (a role of limited military use), why not also take advantage of these capabilities by using the ABL as a communications platform.
Loitering at 45,000 feet, the ABL will be well above the majority of the atmospheric distortion that makes laser communications so difficult. Since the ABL is projected to be loitering here anyway, why not put it to work when the enemy isn't firing missiles? If we include a package of traditional communications gear, the ABL could function as an ultra-high bandwidth relay converting radio signals into laser communications for relay via satellite or for retransmission to a ground station. Work is already underway to develop a ground-based laser communications package to perform this exact same function - why wait for this new program when we already have an asset that can turn this effort into reality in the near-term?
Basing our laser communications system on an aircraft means that initial entry forces (the ones who need this capability the most) can actually have the system instead of waiting for follow-on forces to get up and running. The laser itself can even function as a self-defense device for the aircraft. For that matter, it could offer high-altitude air defense for most of our airborne support systems since high-altitude SAMs tend to be very large, single stage missiles which is exactly what this system is intended to take out.