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Functional laser weapons are just five years away. Advocates hope that won’t always be the case. The Air Force has been working on airborne laser weapons for more than 40 years, but a fielded system remains elusive. Experts also warn that the US does not enjoy a commanding lead in laser research. And the Air Force’s flagship laser weapon program, the Airborne Laser (later called the Airborne Laser Testbed) was terminated late last year and is now being dismantled. Still, service and industry experts predict there is plenty of reason for realistic optimism. Operational laser systems that can perform a...

For the first time, after a decade of development, the U.S. Air Force fired its ALT (Airborne Laser Testbed) laser while in flight and hit a rapidly (1,800 meters a second) rising ballistic missile. The laser beam took several seconds to weaken the missile structure, and cause it to come apart. This test came only eight months after the smaller Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) was fired in flight for the first time. The target was some lumber on the ground, which was hit. The ATL weapon was carried in a C-130H four engine transport. Five years ago, manufacturers of combat...

This number sounds suspiciously similar to the number used by the Inspector General over TARP about 10 months ago during congressional hearings.

Neil Cavuto just read news crossing the wire. Two fighter jets were launched by NORAD from Tyndall AFB in FL due to an issue with an unruly passenger on an Air Tran flight from Atlanta to San Francisco. Hopefully, more follows soon. Plane has landed at Colorado Springs airport. A young man was taken into custody after the flight was diverted. The man was thought to be intoxicated and locked himself in the bathroom. The crew radioed the situation, and the fighters were launched. Everyone's safe on the flight .. the passenger is in custody.

Airtran flight 39, Atlanta to San Francisco, unruly passenger on board. Fighters launched to escort plane, landed in Colorado Springs. Info per Neil Cavuto on Fox News; no link yet.

Mayor Shirley Franklin disputes a political blog’s ranking of Atlanta as the nation’s second most dangerous municipality, reiterating her claim that the city is “safer now than it has been in decades.” “The blog’s rankings are based on incorrect data; they are contrary to the findings of reputable authorities on crime data; and they ignore Atlanta’s 7-year track record of crime reduction,” Franklin said Monday in a press release. The ranking, compiled by the Web site Real Clear Politics, was derived by dividing the total crimes detailed in the FBI’s 2008 Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report by city population. Real...

ATLANTA — The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a near-collision of two airplanes on the runway at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Friday. Investigators believe an Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight bound for Greensboro, N.C., ignored orders from the control tower to stop its taxi across the runway, coming within seconds of running into a Mexico-bound Delta Air Lines Inc. jet, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said. The ASA pilot acknowledged the orders and repeated them back to controllers in the tower but did not stop, Bergen said. -snip-

Two Arrested At Atlanta Airport With Hidden Knives, Razor Blades POSTED: 6:46 am EDT November 1, 2007 UPDATED: 12:01 pm EDT November 1, 2007 ATLANTA -- Authorities say they have ruled out terrorism in an incident in which two men tried to sneak knives and other weapons onto a flight from Atlanta to New York. One of the men even made it through security and onto the Delta Air Lines flight. Both have been charged with state violations of carrying concealed weapons, according to an Atlanta police report. Authorities surrounded 60-year-old Chhaganbhai Patel at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on October...

Atlanta-Hartsfield/Jackson Intl Airport has a USO group that really welcomes home the troops. During a six hour wait for my flight, I watched these fine young Americans get a Welcome Home reception from all the travelers waiting in the central Atrium. About every 30 minutes, another group of returning troops would be queue'd up from the USO waiting area and led out. The leader would announce, "Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome home our troops who are returning home after service in Iraq". The waiting travelers would start clapping and cheering, whistles and shout-outs greeted the two-by column as they marched...

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 13, 2006 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has begun flight testing for the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) program and has generated "first light" of ATL's high-energy chemical laser in ground tests, achieving two key milestones in the laser gunship development effort. During the "low-power" flight tests, which began Oct. 10 and conclude this fall, the ATL ACTD system will find and track ground targets at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. A low-power, solid-state laser will serve as a surrogate for ATL's high-power chemical laser. To prepare for the tests, the ATL...

CNN is reporting that a UAL ATL-SFO flight is being diverted to Dallas after finding an unclaimed (unattached?) backpack prior to takeoff from Atlanta, as well as a Blackberry that does not belong to anyone on board. The flight is presently over southern Oklahoma, and is being diverted to Dallas. Could be nothing, but given the day today, better to err on the side of caution...

Just a story from earlier today: I had to take my wife to the airport - she's flying to a business conference. We decided to get lunch in the airport, and as I saw a few soldiers eating lunch, I remarked to my wife that I wish we would have had the opportunity to buy them lunch. It was a sincere comment, but it was just that, a comment. One day, I will make it much more so than words. Anways, as we finished our lunch, we walked into the lobby area in front of the security check, there were...

ST. LOUIS, Jan. 23, 2006 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] Missile Defense Systems (MDS) has taken delivery of the aircraft for the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) program, achieving the first of several key milestones in the laser gunship effort. The C-130H transport, which belongs to the U.S. Air Force's 46th Test Wing, was handed over to Boeing on Jan. 18 in Crestview, Fla., near Eglin Air Force Base. Boeing is modifying the aircraft to enable it to carry a high-energy chemical laser and battle management and beam control subsystems. Boeing will begin flight testing the aircraft this summer with all subsystems...

ATLANTA - Thousands of frustrated travelers waited in two-hour-long lines to pass through security Tuesday at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, slowed by a rush of business and post-holiday passengers. Travelers at the country's busiest airport stood in a labyrinthine line that wound through ticketing and baggage claim areas and the food court before even nearing the security gate.

A "suspicious" device was found in the bathroom at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport today, according to the Atlanta FBI. Authorities would not comment on the contents or potential of the device pending the outcome of their current investigation. "We are not prepared to share with you at this time anything in regards to that device," said Gregory Jones, special agent in charge for the Atlanta FBI, at a Wednesday afternoon news conference at the airport. "We do not know what we have. I do not want to describe it for you," he said. Atlanta Police Sgt. Shad Hutchins, who also...

Just before noon a TSA worker detected an explosive device in a bathroom. Robot checking area now...details to follow