 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
Boeing Airborne Laser Successfully Activates High-Energy Laser
Washington (UPI) Dec 2, 2008 The company said the test was the final stage of the first full ground test of the entire weapon system integrated aboard the aircraft. Boeing is the prime integrator for the ABL program. The company said the test was carried out at Edwards Air Force Base in California by its industry teammates and by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. In the test, the laser beam traveled through the beam control/fire control system before exiting the aircraft through the nose-mounted turret. The beam control/fire control system steered and focused the beam onto a simulated ballistic-missile target, the company said. This test is significant because it demonstrated that the Airborne Laser missile defense program has successfully integrated the entire weapon system aboard the ABL aircraft, said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems. With the achievement of the first firing of the laser aboard the aircraft in September, the team has now completed the two major milestones it hoped to accomplish in 2008, keeping ABL on track to conduct the missile shoot-down demonstration planned for next year, Fancher said. Michael Rinn, Boeing vice president and ABL program director, stated that the next goal for the ABL project would be to conduct several longer-duration laser firings through the beam control/fire control system. Once we complete those tests, we will begin demonstrating the entire weapon system in flight, Rinn said. The team is meeting its commitment to deliver this transformational directed-energy weapon system in the near term. Boeing said the latest success followed a series major breakthroughs in the formerly troubled program. It noted a 2005 test that confirmed the high-energy laser could be fired with deadly levels of duration and power in the System Integration Laboratory at Edwards AFB. Last year the Airborne Laser was subjected to many flight tests that confirmed its ability to monitor, target, hit and destroy airborne targets, including taking offset readings to allow for atmospheric conditions, and then firing an effective high-energy laser's simulated lethal beam on the target. In September the laser reached its first light milestone when the high-energy laser was shot into a calorimeter aboard the aircraft. The ABL's goal is to produce a speed-of-light capability to all types of ballistic missiles including intercontinental ballistic missiles during their boost phase of flight. Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Learn about laser weapon technology at SpaceWar.com
Boeing wins new HEL laser dealWashington (UPI) Aug 26, 2008 Boeing has won a new $36 million U.S. Army contract to push ahead with its work on creating a new mobile, high-energy laser weapon system to knock out incoming rockets, artillery shells and mortar rounds. Boeing said in a statement last week that on Aug. 15 the Pentagon approved Phase II of the High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator contract, under which the company will ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2009 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook