Boeing concerned by budget cuts on airborne laser

Aerospace manufacturer Boeing Co. on Tuesday expressed concern over potential budget cuts on its airborne laser aircraft in the upcoming fiscal year's budget, which is still being haggled over by lawmakers.

Earlier this year, the House Armed Services Committee agreed to cut $42.6 million from the Missile Defense Agency's $421 million program in its version of the defense authorization bill due to continuing operational and affordability concerns. That cut is much larger than the proposed $15.7 million trim House appropriators have recently suggested. Neither committee has included funding for a second aircraft.

The first of its kind, neither Congress or the Missile Defense Agency have put forth plans for a second aircraft beyond development funding until the technology has fully matured, and has proven its capability.

The airborne laser aircraft is a modified version of a Boeing 747 freighter, and is designed to detect, track and destroy enemy ballistic missiles during the early stages of flight using a high-energy, infrared laser designed and developed by partner Northrop Grumman Corp. The system can also pass on information about launch sites, track targets and predict impact points of the missile.

"It would be a shame to mark even a small amount of the president's budget request ... every dollar is very important," Mark Rinn, Boeing's vice president and program director, told reporters on a conference call Thursday.

Some funding has been allocated to begin addressing questions like affordability by lawmakers, said Rinn.

To date, the agency has spent roughly $4 billion on the program since its inception in 1998, and that figure is expected to reach $5 billion, according to Richard Lehner, a Missile Defense Agency spokesman. That figure also includes money for development, testing, and more, said Lehner.

On Sunday, Boeing, the prime contractor on the program, and its industry partners, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin Corp. successfully fired a high energy laser during a ground testing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

The test, one of the more than 70 that have been conducted, is the first time the laser has been equipped to the plane when fired.

Ground testing will continue throughout the remainder of the year with firing planned over a longer duration. It will then be followed by a flight test of the entire system.

The Chicago-based aerospace manufacturer says it remains on track to complete an airborne intercept test against a ballistic missile by early fall in 2009.

Shares of Boeing added 11 cents to $64.02, while shares of Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman added 56 cents to $71.35 in after-hours trading, after falling 89 cents to $70.79.