Originally posted by GRUNHERZ With the type of wars we are fighting now you could use a 747 as a bomber instead of B52s...
Originally posted by RTSigma 737s eh? Whats next, Dodge Caravan as a replacement to the Hummer?
Originally posted by 1K3 iin TIME, they say they'll use those jumbo jets with lasers installed on nose to shoot down ICBMs before they lauch
ABL reaches 'first light' milestone Article courtesy of Airborne Laser andAir Force Flight Test Center Public Affairs November 23, 2004 11/19/04 – EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Airborne Laser engineers at Edwards successfully fired for the first time ever all six modules of the megawatt-class Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser, or COIL, during a ground test Nov. 10.The firing was a landmark event in the ongoing effort to use directed energy aboard an aircraft to destroy a ballistic missile shortly after its launch. The test, internally called "first light," was conducted in the ABL laser testing facility, called the System Integration Lab, and occurred at 12:07 p.m., lasting for a fraction of a second. "This is a wonderful moment for the Missile Defense Agency and the proponents of a ballistic missile defense system around the world," said Col. Ellen Pawlikowski, ABL program director. Although the test duration was short, it proved that the ABL laser worked. "What's important is that the COIL produced photons," Colonel Pawlikowski said. "This proves the laser hardware is ready to go.""The test verifies that the physics design of the six modules together produced medium megawatt laser beam, producing optical dust, or what we call fireflies," she added during a teleconference following the first light.Airborne Laser engineers also verified the subsystems of the integrated system to include turbopumps that produce a critical element of pressure and systems that circulate the hydrogen peroxide mixture, said Colonel Pawlikowski. In Wednesday's test, the laser light produced by the six modules was fired into a wall of metal called a calorimeter, or beam dump. The temperature rise of the metal was used to validate that laser power was generated. There also was visual confirmation as the beam, invisible to the naked eye, set fire to dust particles in the firing path.Tests of the COIL will continue for several months as engineers make adjustments to module hardware and chemical flow, gradually increasing the firing time.The test came only two days before ABL's eighth birthday. Nov. 12, 1996, the U.S. Air Force awarded a $1.1 billion contract to Boeing, TRW, which is now Northrop Grumman Space Technologies, and Lockheed Martin to develop a prototype ABL to attack theater ballistic missiles. The target tier was expanded to include all ballistic missiles when the program was transferred from the Air Force to MDA in October 2001.Airborne Laser is the most advanced boost-phase segment of MDA's layered system designed to protect the United States, its allies and its deployed troops from a hostile missile attack. ABL's role is to detect, track and destroy missiles soon after they are launched. It will be based aboard a modified Boeing 747-400 freighter aircraft.While the COIL lasers were being tested in the special lab, the ABL aircraft, YAL-1A, was parked a football field away being prepared for its own major test - a return to flight for the first time in almost two years.It was taken out of service in December 2002 for modifications to the airframe and the installation of the complicated beam control system.After completion of the ground testing of the COIL, it will be installed on the aircraft. Ground and flight tests of the ABL will continue, culminating in the shootdown of a ballistic missile over the Pacific Ocean.
