On Aug. 18, a high-power chemical oxygen iodine laser mated to a modified Boeing 747-400F and beam/fire control system designed together to destroy ballistic missiles in boost phase was fired for the first time in flight. The next steps will include more airborne tests before a missile shoot-down demonstration. For the test flight, which launched out of Edwards AFB Tuesday, the laser was fired into an on-board calorimeter, which both captured the beam and measured its power. Team leaders hope that if the program is successful, it will usher in a new era for weapon systems. "We think ABL (airborne laser) will be a game-changer for weapon systems the same way stealth technology transformed aerial combat," Michael Rinn, Boeing vice president and ABL program director, said in a news release. If it progresses as planned, the test regimen will soon ramp up to firing the beam through the aircraft's advanced control/fire control system. That would mark "the first time a megawatt-class laser has been coupled with precise pointing and atmospheric correction in an airborne environment," according to Boeing. Following that progressively comes the more challenging target practice.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/news/missile-defense-laser-equipped-747-test-successful