Awsome military lazer!

[ThunderThud]

hate to be on the recieving end of this beam of light!

[RabidAlien]

Kinda makes you wonder what the military has out now, that renders this laser obsolete and therefore open to public knowledge.

[ksilber11]

Aren't they working on a C-130 outfitted with a laser, that can melt through a tank over 5 miles away?

[bigZ]

Kinda makes you wonder what the military has out now, that renders this laser obsolete and therefore open to public knowledge.

Mirror finished shells.

Wonder how many projectiles per minute it can take down?

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

WHOA!!!!!!!! That rocks!!!

[Flyboy2]

AWESOME!

[comiso90]

Mirror finished shells.

Wonder how many projectiles per minute it can take down?

It's just proof of concept at this point, you know the rate of fire will be improved.

I wonder if mirror covered shells would defeat it? Also, was that howitzer a smooth bore? I'd imaging a laser would take more time to defeat a spinning projectile.

The lasers biggest enemy are clouds and smoke!

.

[beaupower32]

You always have this.








The Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser (ABL) weapons system is a megawatt-class chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL) mounted inside a modified Boeing 747-400F. It is primarily designed as a missile defense system to destroy tactical ballistic missiles (TBMs), similar to the Scud, while in boost phase. The low-power lasers have been test-fired in flight, aimed at an airborne target board.[1] The aircraft was designated YAL-1A in 2004 by the U.S. Department of Defense.

The ABL does not burn through or disintegrate its target. It heats the missile skin, weakening it, causing failure from high speed flight stress. If proven successful, seven ABL-armed 747s will be built and assigned to two combat theaters. The aircraft were originally slated to enter service in 2008, but development has been slower and costlier than planned. The current plan calls for a prototype ABL to attempt to shoot down a test missile in 2009.[4] Data acquired in the test will shape the final production design, which is now expected to enter service several years from now.

The ABL was designed for use against tactical ballistic missiles (TBMs). These have a shorter range and fly more slowly than ICBMs. The MDA has recently suggested the ABL might be used against ICBMs during their boost phase. This could require much longer flights to get in position, and might not be possible without flying over hostile territory. Liquid-fueled ICBMs, which have thinner skins, and remain in boost phase longer than TBMs, might be easier to destroy.

If the ABL achieves its design goals, it could destroy liquid-fueled ICBMs up to 600 km away. Tougher solid-fueled ICBM destruction range would likely be limited to 300 km, too short to be useful in many scenarios, according to a 2003 report by the American Physical Society on National Missile Defense.

The program was initiated by the Air Force in 1996 with the awarding of a product definition risk reduction contract to Boeing's ABL team.[8][9] In 2001, the program was transferred to the MDA and converted to an acquisition program.[9]

The development of the system is being accomplished by a team of contractors. Boeing Integrated Defense Systems provides the aircraft, the management team and the systems integration processes. Northrop Grumman is supplying the COIL, and Lockheed Martin is supplying the nose turret and the fire control system.[9][7]

In 2001, a retired Air India 747-200 was acquired by the Air Force, and trucked without its wings from the Mojave Airport to Edwards Air Force Base where the airframe was incorporated into the System integration Laboratory (SIL) building at Edwards' Birk Flight Test Center, to be used to fit check and test the various components.[10][11] The SIL was built primarily to test the COIL at a simulated operational altitude, and during that phase of the program, the laser was operated over 50 times, achieving lasing durations representative of actual operational engagements. These tests fully qualified the system so that it can be integrated into the actual aircraft. Following the completion of the tests, the laboratory is being dismantled, and the 747-200 fuselage is being removed.[11]

Boeing completed initial modifications to a new 747-400F off the production line in 2002, culminating in its first flight on July 18, 2002 from Boeing's Wichita, Kansas facility. Ground testing of the COIL resulted in its successful firing in 2004. The YAL-1 was assigned to the 417th Flight Test Squadron Airborne Laser Combined Test Force at Edwards AFB.

Besides the COIL, the system also includes two kilowatt-class Target Illuminator Lasers for target tracking. On March 15, 2007, the YAL-1 successfully fired this laser in flight, hitting its target. The target was an NC-135E Big Crow test aircraft that has been specially modified with a "signboard" target on its fuselage. The test validated the system's ability to track an airborne target and measure and compensate for atmospheric distortion.[7]

The next phase in the test program involved the "surrogate high-energy laser" (SHEL), a stand-in for the COIL, and will demonstrate the transition from target illumination to simulated weapons firing. As of July 2008, the COIL system is installed in the aircraft and is undergoing ground testing.[12]

[F4Uftw]

Ugh, still trying to look up the article on defense lasers I read for verification, but I do remember it saying that lasers of this sort don't overheat the target for burn-through (article was discussing ballistic missile defense), so reflective coatings wouldn't be a defense. The laser actually has a kinetic energy impact, so they key to these systems is getting enough energy on target to either destroy them (as in punch through the thin wall of a missile body) or deflect the trajectory of an artillery round.