The Airborne Laser program was initiated by the US Air Force in 1996 with the awarding of a product definition risk reduction contract to Boeing's ABL team. It shot down several missiles in tests conducted in the 1980s. The Airborne Laser Laboratory was a less-powerful prototype installed in a Boeing NKC-135A. It was ultimately scrapped in September 2014 after all usable parts were removed.Ĭontractors dismantle the Boeing 747 fuselage portion of the System Integration Laboratory at the Birk Flight Test Center. It made its final flight on February 14, 2012, to Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, to be kept in storage at the " Boneyard" by the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group. Funding for the program was cut in 2010 and the program was canceled in December 2011. A high-energy laser was used to intercept a test target in January 2010, and the following month, successfully destroyed two test missiles. The YAL-1 with a low-power laser was test-fired in flight at an airborne target in 2007. The aircraft was designated YAL-1A in 2004 by the U.S. It was primarily designed as a missile defense system to destroy tactical ballistic missiles (TBMs) while in boost phase. The Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser Testbed (formerly Airborne Laser) weapons system was a megawatt-class chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL) mounted inside a modified military Boeing 747-400F.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |