YAL-1 Airborne Laser update

Boeing updated the press corps today about its missile defense programs. Lunch was included, and we -- the Pavlovian press -- showed up en masse.

My angle for Flight International magazine will be an update on the YAL-1 Airborne Laser (ABL). Boeing is now warning that funding to buy a second aircraft -- notionally based on the 747-8F -- needs to come much sooner than currently planned.

The Missile Defense Agency wants the program to take a breather after the first ABL shootdown (originally scheduled for 2003, now pencilled to take place in August 2009). Boeing is concerned that any gap in activity will make it difficult to keep the ABL's 747 industry team up to speed on the program, potentially causing further delays and cost increases downstream.

I asked the program manager if other platforms besides the 747-8F would be considered for the second aircraft -- dubbed "Tail 2". When I suggested the 747-400BCF or the 777F as potential alternatives, he nodded his head but stuck to the line that the 747-8F delivers the best performance (which, in truth, is hard to argue. But I also wonder about affordability?)

Then I asked Boeing's ABL program manager my "crazy, blue sky" question: has Boeing considered the Airbus A380F as a potential candidate for Tail 2? After all, it could easily haul the 225,000-lb laser payload. To my complete shock, he replied "yes". But he also again stuck to the line that the 747-8F is still the best answer.