Airborne Laser Window Nears Completion

Pittsburgh's Contraves Brashear Systems LP has accepted the conformal window for the US Air Force's Airborne Laser Program. The company will polish, coat and install the 340-lb, 1.8-m-diameter window in a composite turret ball from Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space of Sunnyvale, Calif.

Heraeus Quarzglas GmbH of Hanau, Germany, and its subdivision, Heraeus Amersil of Duluth, Ga., fabricated the glass. Corning Inc. of Canton, N.Y., shaped the window. Earlier this year, Contraves received the primary optical mirror for the program from Corning.