Airborn laser passes missile defense test

Opinion Journal:

Never has Ronald Reagan's dream of layered missile defenses—Star Wars, for short—been as politically out of favor as in the Age of Obama. Nor as close, at least technologically, to becoming realized.

The latest encouraging news came Thursday courtesy of the Misssile Defense Agency. The Airborne Laser prototype aircraft this week found, tracked, engaged and simulated an intercept with a missile seconds after liftoff. It was the first time the Agency used an "instrumented" missile to confirm the laser works as expected. Next up this fall will be the first live attempt to bring down a ballistic missile, but this test confirms how far along this innovative effort has come.

Along with space-based weapons, the Airborne Laser is the next defense frontier. The modified Boeing 747 is supposed to send an intense beam of light over hundreds of miles to destroy missiles in the "boost phase," before they can release decoys and at a point in their trajectory when they would fall back down on enemy territory. It's a pioneering use of directed energy in defense. The laser complements the sea- and ground-based missile defenses that keep proving themselves in tests.

Yet the Obama Administration isn't buying it. Funding for missile defense was cut in the 2010 budget by some 15%—$1.2 billion to $1.6 billion, depending on how you calculate it. The number of ground-based interceptors was reduced. The Missile Defense Agency's budget for the Airborne Laser is to be slashed in half, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates pulled the plug on buying a second plane. The Pentagon says the program will have three tries to hit a live missile, or be killed altogether.

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Cutting missile defense does not make any sense when you consider the threats we and our allies face from rogue states like North Korea and Iran. Boost phase missile defense is especially important.

I have been one of the first to point out the importance of knocking out the missile before it can launch decoys. It is also smarter to hit the missile when it is most vulnerable in its launch phase. When you add the further benefits of having it fall back down on its launch site, this program is a winner. It would be criminal neglect to abandon it at this point.

There could be a lot of dead liberals on the West Coast if Obama kills this program. They need to wake up before it is too late and support this program. Democrats have always been weird about missile defense, but that weirdness could cost a lot of lives. Transfer the money they have made available to ACORN and save this program.