Boeing's Anti-Missile Laser Passes Initial Test | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-04.01.24

Airborne-Unlimited-04.16.24

Airborne-FlightTraining-04.17.24 Airborne-Unlimited-04.11.24

Airborne-Unlimited-04.12.24

Join Us At 0900ET, Friday, 4/10, for the LIVE Morning Brief.
Watch It LIVE at
www.airborne-live.net

Thu, Nov 18, 2004

Boeing's Anti-Missile Laser Passes Initial Test

Flight Tests Start Before End Of Year

A Boeing 747 variant modified to carry an anti-missile laser system will make its first test flights before the end of the year, according to the Air Force. The 20 or so test flights will be conducted at the same time the laser itself is being tested on the ground at Edwards AFB (CA).

"We are talking about several months of testing before we can put it on the airplane," Air Force Col. Ellen Pawlikowski told the Los Angeles Daily News. She's the Defense Department Missile Defense Agency's program manager.

The laser itself was fired successfully its first time out at Edwards. The test lasted less than one second, but confirmed that the weapon's physics are sound, according to military officials.

"This was the first step in validating the laser's performance," Pawlikowski told the newspaper. "We have every reason to expect we'll get the design power from the laser."

As work on the laser itself continues at Edwards, the 747 platform will fly with a surrogate on board, a laser capable of much-lower intensity operations.

The first few flights will verify the airworthiness of the platform. In subsequent flights, researchers will test their ability to control the laser beam itself.

Eventually, Boeing and the military will marry the 747 and the laser for a second round of tests that will include taking shots at targets towed by Scaled Composites' Proteus aircraft.

If the weapon works as advertised, the military will fly the laser platforms in pairs over friendly territory. The system actually uses two lasers -- one to track and another fired from a turret under the nose of the 747, designed to kill a missile with a short burst of very intense energy.

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.af.mil

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.16.24)

Aero Linx: International Business Aviation Council Ltd IBAC promotes the growth of business aviation, benefiting all sectors of the industry and all regions of the world. As a non->[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (04.16.24)

"During the annual inspection of the B-24 “Diamond Lil” this off-season, we made the determination that 'Lil' needs some new feathers. Due to weathering, the cloth-cove>[...]

Airborne 04.10.24: SnF24!, A50 Heritage Reveal, HeliCycle!, Montaer MC-01

Also: Bushcat Woes, Hummingbird 300 SL 4-Seat Heli Kit, Carbon Cub UL The newest Junkers is a faithful recreation that mates a 7-cylinder Verner radial engine to the airframe offer>[...]

Airborne 04.12.24: SnF24!, G100UL Is Here, Holy Micro, Plane Tags

Also: Seaplane Pilots Association, Rotax 916’s First Year, Gene Conrad After a decade and a half of struggling with the FAA and other aero-politics, G100UL is in production a>[...]

Airborne-Flight Training 04.17.24: Feds Need Controllers, Spirit Delay, Redbird

Also: Martha King Scholarship, Montaer Grows, Textron Updates Pistons, FlySto The FAA is hiring thousands of air traffic controllers, but the window to apply will only be open for >[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC