Congress Should Consider Slowing ABL Program Because of Cost Concerns, Senator Says

U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) said yesterday that Congress should consider cutting support for the Missile Defense Agency’s Airborne Laser program because of cost overruns (see GSN, Jan. 7).

The agency requested $493 million for the ABL program in its fiscal 2005 budget proposal and plans to spend about $3 billion on the effort from fiscal 2004 to fiscal 2009, according to Aerospace Daily. A preliminary U.S. General Accounting Office report, however, says the ABL program has experienced $1 billion in cost overruns since 1999 and could experience another $1 billion in additional costs before the laser is ready for testing, Akaka said.

During a Senate Armed Services committee hearing yesterday (see related GSN story, today), MDA Director Air Force Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish defended the ABL program, saying that while it had experienced some problems because of the system’s complexity, the program is close to resolving them (Marc Selinger, Aerospace Daily, March 12).

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