Airborne laser

Airborne laser destroys boosting ballistic missile for the first time

Calling it a history-making test, Boeing announced that its airborne laser destroyed a boosting ballistic missile for the first time. The aircraft that fired the lasers is a Boeing Wichita-modified 747-400F aircraft.

It marks the first time a laser weapon has destroyed an in-flight ballistic missile and the first time a system has done it in the missile's boost stage of flight, Boeing said.

"With the successful experiment, the Airborne Laser Testbed has blazed a path for a new generation of high-energy, ultra-precision weaponry," Boeing vice persident Michael Rinn said in a statement.

The laser tracks, engages and destroys missiles as they're in the boost phase of flight.

Read more: http://blogs.kansas.com/aviation/2010/02/12/airborne-laser-destroys-boosting-ballistic-missile-for-the-first-time/#ixzz0fLW0u6i0