Col. Ellen M. Pawlikowski, who earlier this month assumed command of the Air Force's top weapons project, says its success ultimately will change the face of war.

The Airborne Laser Attack Aircraft (officially the ABL, but some call it ALAA) is designed to use a powerful laser to destroy enemy ballistic missiles in midair shortly after launch. It is aimed primarily at countering the threat posed by an increasing number of rogue nations acquiring the capability of launching theater ballistic missiles, like the Russian-made Scuds that caused havoc in the Gulf War. But the project, whose 75-person Systems Program Office Pawlikowski now directs at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, faces some survival issues of its own. Most immediately it is a target on the administration's budget-cutting radar screen. A big target.

The $1.2 billion project currently is outfitting a Boeing 747 freighter with a missile-launch detection and tracking system; a Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser; and an adaptive optic system that instantly corrects for atmospheric distortions and keeps the laser cannon accurately on target.

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