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Airborne Laser Related News »

• Boeing's Airborne Laser Team Installs All Major Laser Components on ABL Aircraft
• Airborne Laser Ready for High Energy Laser Integration and Testing
• Boeing and Airborne Laser Teammates Achieve Final 2007 Milestone
• Boeing and Airborne Laser Teammates Celebrate 2007 Program Achievements
• Raytheon Illuminator Succeeds in Airborne Laser Flight Tests

A crew of four, including pilot and copilot, would be required to operate the airborne laser, which would patrol in pairs at high altitude, about 40,000 feet, flying in orbits over friendly territory, scanning the horizon for the plumes of rising missiles.
Capable of autonomous operation, the ABL would acquire and track missiles in the boost phase of flight, illuminating the missile with a tracking laser beam while computers measure the distance and calculate its course and direction. After acquiring and locking onto the target, a second laser - with weapons-class strength - would fire a three- to five-second burst from a turret located in the 747's nose, destroying the missiles over the launch area.

The Airborne Laser is a Major Defense Acquisition Program. After the Concept Design Phase is complete, the ABL will enter the Program Definition and Risk Reduction (PDRR) Phase. The objective of the PDRR phase is to develop a cost effective, flexible airborne high energy laser system which provides a credible deterrent and lethal defensive capabilities against boosting theater ballistic missiles. Companies that work on the program are Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northop Grumman.
A Boeing 747-400F (freighter) aircraft is used as airframe, and is modified to fit the laser systems.
A Lockheed Martin team designed, produced, integrated and flight tested the first prototype ABL demonstration system.
They succefully performed a boost-phase shoot-down of a theater ballistic missile.
Nothrop grumman designed, developed and produces the laser system itself.

The airborne laser would fire a Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser, or COIL, invented at Phillips Lab in 1977. The laser's fuel consists of the same chemicals found in hair bleach and Drano - hydrogen peroxide and potassium hydroxide - which are then combined with chlorine gas and water. The laser operates at an infrared wavelength of 1.315 microns, which is invisible to the eye. By recycling chemicals, building with plastics and using a unique cooling process, the COIL team was able to make the laser lighter and more efficient while - at the same time - increasing its power by 400 percent in five years. It will carry enough reactants for about 20 shots

The airborne laser program is not entirely new, in the 70's and 80's the Air Force weapons Laboratory at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico used a modified NKC-135A in an 11-year experiment to prove a high-energy laser could be operated in an aircraft and employed against airborne targets. During the experiment, the Airborne Laser Lab destroyed five AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and a Navy BQM-34A target drone. The aircraft was flown to the Museum in May 1988.

Recent developments:

Feb. 22nd, 2008 | Boeing's Airborne Laser Team Installs All Major Laser Components on ABL Aircraft

ST. LOUIS, Feb. 22, 2008 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA], industry teammates and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency have achieved a significant milestone for the revolutionary Airborne Laser (ABL) missile defense program with the installation of all six chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL) modules on the ABL aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. "ABL's weapon system integration team has done a tremendous job installing major components of the high-energy laser aboard the aircraft, and they...
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Jan. 4th, 2008 | Airborne Laser Ready for High Energy Laser Integration and Testing

Lt. General Henry A. “Trey” Obering, Director of the Missile Defense Agency, announced today the successful completion of the Airborne Laser (ABL) program’s final 2007 Knowledge Point. Completion of this Knowledge Point culminates a year of historic progress for the ABL program, and marks the end of a complex and diverse set of hardware refurbishment and planning in preparation for installation of ABL’s megawatt-class High Energy Laser on board the prototype aircraft at ...
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Jan. 3rd, 2008 | Boeing and Airborne Laser Teammates Achieve Final 2007 Milestone

ST. LOUIS, Jan. 03, 2008 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA], industry teammates and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency have achieved the final 2007 milestone for the Airborne Laser (ABL) program, capping a successful year for the revolutionary airborne directed energy weapon system. The final event for 2007 occurred when: The Northrop Grumman laser team completed inspection and refurbishment of the high-energy laser components that were previously tested successfully in a system integration lab...
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Oct. 31st, 2007 | Boeing and Airborne Laser Teammates Celebrate 2007 Program Achievements

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 31, 2007 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE:BA], industry teammates and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency today celebrated the Airborne Laser (ABL) program's 2007 major accomplishments and highlighted California's contributions to ABL's revolutionary missile defense capabilities during a ceremony at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Missile Defense Agency and Department of Defense representatives, Air Force guests and elected officials stood alongside hundreds of California workers and m...
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Oct. 12th, 2007 | Raytheon Illuminator Succeeds in Airborne Laser Flight Tests

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Oct. 11, 2007 /PRNewswire/ -- A solid-state illuminator laser developed by Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) for the Missile Defense Agency has been fired successfully more than 50 times for periods of up to 90 seconds since in-flight tests began in January. The kilowatt-class illuminator, built for the agency's Airborne Laser (ABL) program and fired from a heavily modified Boeing 747, is used to track a boosting ballistic missile. The projectile is then destroyed by the ABL's ...
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Airborne Laser Related News »

• Northrop Begins Integrating Megawatt-Class Laser Onto Airborne Laser Aircraft
• Lockheed Details Airborne Laser Beam Control Tests
• Boeing-led Airborne Laser Team Completes 'Low Power' Flight Tests
• Boeing-led Airborne Laser Team Actively Tracks Airborne Target
• Airborne Laser Completes Successful Fire Control Loop
• Pentagon's Flying Raygun Zips Into Budget Battle
• Air Force seeks technologies to enhance Airborne Laser project
• Airborne Laser fires tracking laser, hits target
• Boeing-led Airborne Laser Team Fires Tracking Laser at Airborne Target
• Airborne Laser In-Flight Testing
• Airborne Laser returns for more testing
• Boeing Airborne Laser Team Rolls Out Modified Aircraft and Prepares for Flight Tests
• Boeing may switch laser to 747-8
• Refurbishing of Airborne Laser's Megawatt-Class Laser Advances
• Boeing-led Team Tracks and Targets Simulated Missile in Airborne Laser Ground Test
• Boeing-led Team Fires Surrogate Lasers from Airborne Laser Aircraft
• Ray-Gun Reality: Inside Two 'Star Wars' Projects
• Cost Could Scuttle Airborne Laser
• BMD Focus: Japan's passion for BMD
• Airborne laser on track for intercept test

All Airborne Laser News Articles »

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