[Stoat]

My apologies for the editing of this article....this was done in order to remain in compliance with Free Republic rules pertaining to the posting of articles from this source. Please click on the main article link to see the full story as well as the video.

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Air Borne Laser (YAL-1) in flight. Shot from the F-16 chase. Date: March 29, 2007. Photographer: Bobbi Zapka

 

 

airborne laster testbed firing

An infrared image of the Missile Defense Agency’s Airborne Laser Testbed (right) destroying a threat representative short-range ballistic missile 

 

 

 

Image 1 of a sequence of images shows a threat representative ballistic missile’s breakup resulting from a high energy laser engagement by the Missile Defense Agency’s Airborne Laser Testbed.

 

 

[Army Air Corps]

Countdown to Obummer shelving the programme...

[ThunderSleeps]

Kudos and a raised glass to the entire ABL team, a tremendous accomplishment. Gives me goosebumps, this is real “Star Wars” type technology. Not to mention it looks bad-a** as he**... Some day this technology will be small enough to go into tactical escort aircraft and go air-to-air, air-to-ground, and SEAD...

[Stoat]

"This was the first directed energy lethal intercept demonstration against a liquid-fuel boosting ballistic missile target from an airborne platform," the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said in a press release. "The revolutionary use of directed energy is very attractive for missile defense, with the potential to attack multiple targets at the speed of light, at a range of hundreds of kilometers (miles), and at a low cost per intercept attempt compared to current technologies."

[AndrewB]

[null and void]

ping

[dragnet2]

>>>>A Megawatt-class laser<<<<<

Built in California!

REDONDO BEACH, Calif., Feb. 12, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Airborne Laser Testbed (ALTB) transitioned from science fiction to directed energy fact Feb. 11 when it put a lethal amount of 'light on target' to destroy a boosting ballistic missile with help from a megawatt-class laser developed by Northrop Grumman Corporation .

While ballistic missiles like the one ALTB destroyed move at speeds of about 4,000 miles per hour, they are no match for a super-heated, high-energy laser beam racing towards it at 670 million mph.<./I>

[ReformedBeckite]

Ok question if some one can answer it, how far away was the Boeing 747 from the missile when it shot it down, and what is the maximum range that the system can shoot down a missile. It appears from the article that the system can shoot something down several hundred miles away.

[Windflier]

No doubt, Obama will single this program out for immediate cancellation.

[BIGLOOK]

Joy!

Don't mean to rain on the parade but an airborne platform has limited time on station.

[Senormechanico]

Wouldn't that be a great addition to your car's grill to take care of those pesky rush hour cars who won't get out of the way?

[My Favorite Headache]