Fire from the Sky – ABL Test

The Airborne Laser Test Bed aircraft (a highly modified Boeing 747) has successfully shot down two ballistic missiles by using nothing more than amplified light.

Story here and here. Short version: The massive flying laser shot the first missile down after a sea launch while it was on its initial assent only two minutes after launch. The second shot came just an hour later against a target that was launched from a land base. The tests were done off the Coast of California near about to the Navy Sea Range, a part of the NAWC-Weapons Division at Point Mugu.

The demonstration included both liquid fueled and solid fueled missiles. A great success for the combined/joint test team that brought all of this together. Now they get to pack their bags and throw away all they have done. The program was scrapped by PresBO.

BT: Jimmy T sends.