Airborne Laser lets rip on first target

Just browsing the new scientist website looking for some information i wanted to post and i found this and thought it was quite interesting. I dont usualy take part on the topics on this board so sorry if its old news just don't reply!!!

www.newscientist.com...

Hope the link works!! Heres a taster....

IMAGINE swarms of aircraft patrolling the skies, zapping missiles, aircraft or even satellites in low Earth orbit with invisible, ultrapowerful laser beams.

Such laser battles in the sky may not be such a long way off, after a megawatt laser weapon was fired from an aircraft for the first time....

Whatever happens to the ABL, the move to high-power laser weapons that use an invisible infrared beam to attack targets is already under way. Top among the early "directed energy" devices expected to be fielded is the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL), developed by the US air force and Boeing, which uses a smaller chemical laser than the ABL and is carried in a military transport plane or large helicopter....

I recall seeing first tests on systems like this out at WSMR back in the mid 80's. They were not mounted on aircraft, but they were tested on missiles and were successful. I even have some old 16mm film copies of some of the tests shot by my father who worked out at the optic division at the HAFB test track facility. He always got to see the neat stuff at both places.





Cheers!!!!

reply to post by RFBurns


Thanks for the information. I have heard that technology like this has been around for years and i believe that the military are probably 20years plus ahead of what gets released. Its not often people have some sort of proof however. Too bad it is that long ago or we could all check it out!

Nice show!
Kiss interceptor fighters good bye. Nobody would need them with the full spectrum automated defense systems of the future. Missiles and laser beams are teh future...and super fast computers of course.

[edit on 15-12-2008 by spacebot]